Case Studies:Case study 29

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Social change in late Holocene mainland SE Asia
W. E. Boyd

Abstract
The Iron Age archaeology of the Mun River floodplain in NE Thailand represents a period of prehistoric settlement dating from c. 500BC to AD500. It is characterised by settlement sites of mounds with distinctive encircling earthworks and channels. Management of Iron Age water supply to the sites permitted long-term and successful settlement of the valley but this eventually ceased. To provide context for the settlement history of the Mun River valley a floodplain landscape model showed patterns of former drainage, locations and types of rivers notably differed in the past from the present rather limited drainage. The floodplain mapping indicated that the prehistoric sites are clustered within approximately one-fifth of the floodplain in which the former rivers flowed suggesting a landscape relationship between sites and former drainage patterns. Archaeological and geoarchaeological study indicates that environmental conditions were good during the early periods of settlement, and relied on the successful management of water supply. These rivers increasingly became integrated into the settlement sites, with increasing evidence for engineering management of river channels, and eventually the construction of artificial channels. In tandem to this change, the hydrological conditions of the floodplain were changing with a transition from a well-watered plain to a relatively dry environment, and a change of river style. The human response to this environmental deterioration was to engineer conditions to maintain the form of water supply to the settlements. This eventually ceased to work.

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[[media:Case study 29.pdf|Social change in late Holocene mainland SE Asia]]

The full article is Boyd, W. E. (2007) Social change in late Holocene mainland SE Asia: A response to gradual climate change or a critical climatic event? Quaternary International

Keywords: Thailand, Mun River, Mounds, Moats, Iron Age, alluvial, floodplain landscape model, palaeoenvironment

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