Integrating social and environmental change in prehistory: A discussion of the role of landscape as a heuristic in defining prehistoric possibilities in northeast Thailand

Burial containers – A hidden aspect of mortuary practices: Archaeothanatology at Ban Non Wat, Thailand

“…Five adults were interred in different positions, two from the Neolithic 1 phase were seated in large mortuary vessels (Higham, 2011a), two from Bronze Age 4 were placed on their sides, and one individual from Bronze Age 5 was interred prone. Regardless of burial position, individuals were usually interred with grave goods, and although these changed over time pottery was included throughout each mortuary phase (Boyd and Chang, 2010). Boyd and Chang (2010) note three trends in grave goods over time: (1) a general increase in both number and variety; (2) more exotic goods were included in later phases; (3) there was a move from wild materials to more domestic grave goods.…”

“…Regardless of burial position, individuals were usually interred with grave goods, and although these changed over time pottery was included throughout each mortuary phase (Boyd and Chang, 2010). Boyd and Chang (2010) note three trends in grave goods over time: (1) a general increase in both number and variety; (2) more exotic goods were included in later phases; (3) there was a move from wild materials to more domestic grave goods. These changes largely reflect the increase in trade from outside the Mun River Valley as well as the enhanced importance attached to agriculture as environmental conditions declined in the Iron Age (Boyd and Chang, 2010;Talbot, 2002).…”

Aspects of health in prehistoric mainland Southeast Asia: Indicators of stress in response to the intensification of rice agriculture

“…It is proposed that rice was present from the beginning of human occupation at the site (Higham and Kijngam, 2011), although the extent to which rice was cultivated as a staple crop remains unknown (Boyd and Chang, 2010). Archeological evidence suggests that the physical environment at Ban Non Wat during the Neolithic and Early and Middle Bronze Age periods was generally that of a wetland landscape with some areas of dry grassland, situated on the edge of woodlands and forests (Boyd and McGrath, 2001;Higham, 2011.…”

“…The second temporal change is a slight deterioration in health, represented by an increase in LEH for females and a statistically significant decrease in female stature from the Middle to Late Bronze Age. This decline in health probably relates to the change in subsistence strategies in the Late Bronze Age (King et al, 2013), attributed to a shift to drier environmental conditions over time, which became most marked in the Iron Age (Boyd and McGrath, 2001;Boyd, 2008;Boyd and Chang, 2010). Male stature remains relatively unchanged throughout the archeological sequence, as does the prevalence of LEH throughout the Bronze Age.…”

Biological Anthropology in the Indo-Pacific Region: New Approaches to Age-Old Questions

“…Multiple lines of biological anthropological and archaeological evidence are now pinpointing the intensification of agriculture in Southeast Asia as occurring in the Iron Age (c. 500 BC to 500 AD), at which point a deterioration in health is observable in several regions King et al, 2017). This change in population stress and disease is echoed in major cultural and environmental changes observed in the archaeological record during this transitional period (Boyd and Chang, 2010;Higham, 2016;Wohlfarth et al, 2016;Yamoah et al, 2017). Archaeological and biological anthropological analyses are now being combined to provide insight on health in relation to these social changes (Ward et al, In Press).…”