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Irregular earthworks in N. E. Thailand: new insight

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Charles Higham  and
Amphan Kijngam
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Extract

Three decades have elapsed since Williams-Hunt (1950) described the results of an aerial survey of archaeological sites in N.E. Thailand. He observed four site-types. The most abundant was a disposition of practically circular earthworks which looked like moats and ramparts. Williams-Hunt described them as small defended towns. There are also four ‘metropolis’ sites with a large gap between inner and outer ramparts, several sites located on rock outcrops, and a number of sites with an irregular layout and possible periods of enlargement. The sites concentrate in the valleys of the Mun and Chi rivers (FIG. I). Williams-Hunt had no clear information on the dates of the sites, although pioneer work by Prince Damrong in I904 and Quaritch-Wales (1936) just before the second war suggested occupation before the Khmer occupation of the Khorat Plateau in the eleventh century AD. ‘Further comment’, he concluded, ‘would be futile. The excavator’s spade alone will provide the final answer.’

Type
Articles
Information
Antiquity , Volume 56 , Issue 217 , July 1982 , pp. 102 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1982

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