Ban Chiang, Thailand Tourism

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from Bangkok).

Before 1967 Ban Chiang was virtually unknown, a tiny village of a few hundred people who suddenly found themselves invaded by an army of archaeologists from all over the world. They came as a result of a sensational discovery which showed the area to have been inhabited at least as long ago as 3800 bc - i.e. during the Neolithic period in Europe. Previously it was thought to have been first settled by migrants from Laos less than 200 years ago.

Farmers working the fields around the village had for many years been unearthing pottery chards, iron and bronze tools and, occasionally, bones. These finds had failed to attract wider interest until, almost by chance, an American called Steve Young heard about them. After visiting Ban Chiang on his own initiative, he alerted scientists in Bangkok to the existence of the site. Thermo luminescence dating subsequently showed the chards to be up to 5800 years old.

As well as pottery, systematic excavation of the site, initiated and directed by the American archaeologist Chester F. Gorman, also uncovered tools in a variety materials including bronze. These were evidently produced at a time roughly corresponding to the Bronze Age in Mesopotamia (the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates) that, beginning around 2000 bc, pre-dated the Bronze Age in northern Europe. The reason why this caused such excitement among archaeologists was that, prior to the discovery at Ban Chiang, the Bronze Age was assumed to have originated in Mesopotamia.

With its painted decoration applied in swirls and bands the pottery from Ban Chiang, probably grave goods rather than items of everyday use, displays a degree of artistry hitherto unmatched in south-east Asia. Stylized plants and animals, at first appearing on simple, round-bellied vases but later also on more elegantly shaped earthenware vessels, testify to a people with a highly developed culture. Fingers were probably used for painting, the pigments being derived from plants.

Manufacture of the earthenware pots evidently continued through three clearly identifiable periods, the first of which had four phases. Those from the earliest phase (c. 3600-2500 bc) of the first period were black with bands of decoration enclosed between lines. In the second phase (c. 2500-2000 bc) the pots were painted with a heavy pattern while in the third phase decorative bands were etched into the clay surface complementing the coloring. In the final phase of this first (Ban Chiang) period (c. 2000-1000 bc) stylized drawings of people and animals made their appearance in addition to the typical swirls and bands.

The middle period (c. 1000-300 bc) was characterized by pottery of the utmost simplicity left virtually undecorated by craftsmen evidently concentrating almost exclusively on shape.

The pinnacle of artistic achievement was reached in the third period (c. 300 bc to ad 200); most of the items now exhibited in the museums date from this time. The clay, fired naturally, was painted with red pigment, the patterns showing considerable inventiveness as well as an extraordinary feeling for the harmony of shape, pattern and color. Shortly after this (about ad 400) Ban Chiang appears to have been abandoned by its inhabitants; at any rate no finds of more recent origin have as yet been made.