Prehistoric and Early Historic settlements on the Central Plain: Analysis of archaeological survey in Lopburi Province, Thailand.

Abstract

The research presented here addresses the development of social complexity in a tributary valley to the Chao Phraya River on the eastern margin of the Central Plain. Regional survey data from the Lam Maleng Valley, Lopburi Province, is discussed within the context of a general model for the emergence of complex politites. I discuss the survey results within the framework of previous knowledge about Southeast Asia prehistory. Intensive regional survey of 60 km$\sp2$ was accomplished, identifying over 150 sites. The survey results suggest that the earliest inhabitants, engaged in cultivation of dry field crops, were present in the region by about 2500 B.C. They were organized at a low level of social complexity, that of tribes or simple chiefdoms. In the succeeding period (ca. 1500 B.C.) increase in site size coincides with the introduction of copper extraction, perhaps associated with an increase in social complexity. There is a discontinuity in settlement pattern at the end of the Prehistoric Period (ca. AD 1), coinciding with the appearance of iron. Proto-historic and Early Historic sites have access to soils suitable for wet rice. The Early Historic Dvaravati Kingdom is seen to be a state-level polity which developed indigenously. Locational analysis indicates that it is not a colony or client state, but emerged as a result of local transformations.