The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di, a Prehistoric Site in Central Thailand Volume VI: The Pottery, the Material Culture, (Part II)

Khok Phanom Di is a prehistoric site located in Central Thailand. An excavation there in 1985 removed cultural material from a 10 x 10 meter square to a depth of almost seven meters. The previous five volumes in this series have reported on the excavation, the environment, biological remains, aspects of material culture and the human skeletal material. The excavation revealed that over a period of half a millennium from about 2000 B.C., the site was a major ceramic production center. This volume is the result of over 15 years intensive research on over 12 tons of ceramics, including the complete pottery vessels found as mortuary offerings, anvils used to shape pots, cylinders of prepared clay, caches of sand used as temperring material, and the stands used to support firing platforms. Hundreds of thin sections have been prepared and analyzed in order to identify both local and exotic wares, and minute details of the complex patterns of decoration on the vessels have been considered. The form of the vessels changed over time, and this, combined with the identification of the many fabric types, has allowed Brian Vincent to distinguish four major ceramic periods. These he then relates to the cultural sequence and a major contribution to understanding the role played by pottery manufacture and exchange within the site, and with other communities within its trading orbit. This volume sets a precedent and a benchmark for the analysis of Southeast Asian ceramics by the acknowledged leader in this highly specialized and complex field.