Fire, Faith, and Rule: Why Indic Cremation Rites Transformed Southeast Asian State Rituals

Previous articleNext article No AccessReportsFurther Evidence of Heterarchy in Bronze Age Thailand1DougaldJ.W.OReillyDougaldJ.W.OReillyFaculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts, 2 Samdech Ouk, Phnom Penh, Cambodia ([email protected]). 30 v 02 Search for more articles by this author Faculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts, 2 Samdech Ouk, Phnom Penh, Cambodia ([email protected]). 30 v 02PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 44, Number 2April 2003 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/367973 Views: 142Total views on this site Citations: 18Citations are reported from Crossref 2003 by The WennerGren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Alison Kyra Carter Building from the Ground Up: The Archaeology of Residential Spaces and Communities in Southeast Asia, Journal of Archaeological Research 52 (Jan 2022).https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-021-09170-4Joyce C. White, Elizabeth G. Hamilton The metal age of Thailand and Ricardo's Law of Comparative Advantage, Archaeological Research in Asia 27 (Sep 2021): 100305.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2021.100305Marc F Oxenham, Trinh Hoang Hiep, Hirofumi Matsumura, Kate Domett, Damien Huffer, Rebecca Crozier, Lan Cuong Nguyen, Clare McFadden Identity and community structure in Neolithic Man Bac, northern Vietnam, Archaeological Research in Asia 26 (Jun 2021): 100282.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2021.100282Siavash Samei, Karim Alizadeh, Peter F. Biehl The spatial organization of craft production at the Kura-Araxes settlement of Köhne Shahar in northwestern Iran: A zooarchaeological approach, PLOS ONE 15, no.33 (Mar 2020): e0229339.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229339Elisabeth A. Hildebrand, Katherine M. Grillo, Elizabeth A. Sawchuk, Susan K. Pfeiffer, Lawrence B. Conyers, Steven T. Goldstein, Austin Chad Hill, Anneke Janzen, Carla E. Klehm, Mark Helper, Purity Kiura, Emmanuel Ndiema, Cecilia Ngugi, John J. Shea, Hong Wang A monumental cemetery built by eastern Africa’s first herders near Lake Turkana, Kenya, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, no.3636 (Aug 2018): 8942–8947.https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1721975115Alison Kyra Carter The Production and Exchange of Glass and Stone Beads in Southeast Asia from 500 BCE to the early second millennium CE: An assessment of the work of Peter Francis in light of recent research, Archaeological Research in Asia 6 (Jun 2016): 16–29.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2016.02.004Mina YOKOCHI, Fumie EMISU, Satoko YANAGISAWA, Chizuko SHIMURA Experiences of women who consult a gynecologist for menopausal symptoms, Journal of Japan Academy of Midwifery 29, no.11 (Jan 2015): 59–68.https://doi.org/10.3418/jjam.29.59Dougald J.W. O’Reilly Increasing complexity and the political economy model; a consideration of Iron Age moated sites in Thailand, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 35 (Sep 2014): 297–309.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2014.06.007Nam C. Kim Lasting Monuments and Durable Institutions: Labor, Urbanism, and Statehood in Northern Vietnam and Beyond, Journal of Archaeological Research 21, no.33 (Feb 2013): 217–267.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-012-9064-7Fiorella Rispoli, Roberto Ciarla, Vincent C. Pigott Establishing the Prehistoric Cultural Sequence for the Lopburi Region, Central Thailand, Journal of World Prehistory 26, no.22 (Jul 2013): 101–171.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-013-9064-7N.J. Harris, N. Tayles Burial containers – A hidden aspect of mortuary practices: Archaeothanatology at Ban Non Wat, Thailand, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31, no.22 (Jun 2012): 227–239.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2012.01.001Steve Weber, Heather Lehman, Timothy Barela, Sean Hawks, David Harriman Rice or millets: early farming strategies in prehistoric central Thailand, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 2, no.22 (Apr 2010): 79–88.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-010-0030-3Joyce C. White, Chureekamol Onsuwan Eyre 5 Residential Burial and the Metal Age of Thailand, Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 20, no.11 (May 2011): 59–78.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-8248.2011.01028.xA. Willis, N. Tayles Field anthropology: application to burial contexts in prehistoric Southeast Asia, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, no.22 (Feb 2009): 547–554.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2008.10.010Stephen G. Perz, Angelica M. Almeyda A Tri-Partite Framework of Forest Dynamics: Hierarchy, Panarchy, and Heterarchy in the Study of Secondary Growth, (Sep 2009): 59–84.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9656-3_4Dougald J .W. O'Reilly Multivallate sites and socio-economic change: Thailand and Britain in their Iron Ages, Antiquity 82, no.316316 (Jan 2015): 377–389.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00096873Lisa Kealhofer, Peter Grave Land Use, Political Complexity, and Urbanism in Mainland Southeast Asia, American Antiquity 73, no.22 (Jan 2017): 200–226.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0002731600042256Miriam T. Stark Early Mainland Southeast Asian Landscapes in the First Millennium A.D., Annual Review of Anthropology 35, no.11 (Oct 2006): 407–432.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123157

Early Bronze in Northeastern Thailand

Linear and appositional growth in infants and children from the prehistoric settlement of Ban Non Wat, Northeast Thailand: Evaluating biological responses to agricultural intensification in Southeast Asia

Recent research has made considerable progress towards our understanding of the origins of agriculture and the domestication of animals in prehistoric Southeast Asia. This thesis will contribute to this knowledge by investigating the faunal assemblage from archaeological sites in the Upper Mun River Valley, northeast Thailand. The major goal of this research is to address the hypothesis: Prehistoric communities in the Upper Mun River Valley became more reliant on domestic animals as part of their subsistence strategies over time, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age To address this hypothesis 22283 vertebrate animal remains from the prehistoric sites of Ban Non Wat, Ban Salao, and Nong Hua Raet were identified and analysed into 57 taxonomic groups. From this analysis, the subsistence strategies in these early communities were determined. Whether these strategies changed throughout time, due to social changes, was investigated. The zooarchaeological records from the three sites were compared to modern comparative studies from the Hmong and Lao-Isan cultures of Southeast Asia. The results show that the subsistence role of domestic animals in the Upper Mun River Valley changed from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. At Ban Non Wat, a site that encompasses a time span of 1650 BC to 500 AD, the volume (m3) of pig and bovid remains increased in the Bronze Age contexts, with bovid remains increasing again in Iron Age contexts. This illustrates the increasing importance of animal husbandry at this site. Wild resources such as deer, fish, and turtle/ tortoise remains were also identified in lower volumes in Iron Age contexts in comparison to Bronze Age and Neolithic at Ban Non Wat. At Ban Salao, an Iron Age site (500 BC to 500 AD), bovid remains made up the majority of the assemblage, with pig second highest. Only a small number of deer, fish, and turtle remains were identified. Likewise, at the Iron Age site of Nong Hua Raet (500 BC to 500 AD), bovid remains were found more often than pig remains and other animals, such as deer, fish, and turtle. The age at death estimates for pig, and the frequency of skeletal elements at Ban Salao and Nong Hua Raet, indicates that pigs may have been raised or butchered offsite. The lack of fish species related to rice agriculture, and low numbers of rats and mice, suggests that Ban Salao and Nong Hua Raet were not intensive rice farming sites. It is argued that these sites were seasonally occupied. If the Iron Age results are analysed as a community of sites, it demonstrates clustered groups specialising in one or two resources, with linear communities sharing resources. These findings demonstrate how the subsistence role of animals in early agricultural communities in the Upper Mun River Valley changed over time, with communities becoming more reliant on domestic animals from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. However, hunting and fishing remained an important part of subsistence strategies throughout all time periods at Ban Non Wat. The increased reliance on domestic animals confirms a socio-cultural change in subsistence towards the use of domestic animals as a food source, and provides evidence of an agricultural intensification of seasonal rice farming. The comparative studies from the Hmong and Lao-Isan cultures has led to the conclusion that the seasonal nature of intensive Iron Age agricultural may have had an influence on the season wild animals were hunted. The results of this thesis are inconclusive as to which current model of social change in Southeast Asia the data supports. This may relate to the overlap within the structure of the models themselves, or suggest that no model entirely encompasses social change that occurred in the prehistoric communities of the Upper Mun River Valley. This research contributes significantly to our understanding of changes to subsistence resources in agricultural communities of Upper Mun River Valley and the wider Southeast Asian region.

The nature of the agricultural transition in Southeast Asia has been a topic of some debate for archaeologists over the past decades. A prominent model, known as the two-layer hypothesis, states that indigenous hunter-gatherers were subsumed by the expansion of exotic Neolithic farmers into the area around 2000 BC. These farmers had ultimate origins in East Asia and brought rice and millet agriculture. Ban Non Wat is one of the few archaeological sites in Southeast Asia where this model can potentially be tested. The site is located in the Mun River valley of Northeast Thailand, and divided into 12 phases that span over 2,000 years, from about 1750 BC to the end of the Iron Age (ca. 500 AD). These phases exhibit successive cultural changes, and current interpretation of the site is of an early hunter-gatherer population, with agriculturalists immigrating into the later phases. We analyzed strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotopes in tooth enamel from over 150 individuals, dating from the Neolithic to Iron Age, to assess extrinsic origins and differences in diet between early and later phases. We find evidence of dietary and cultural differences between groups at Ban Non Wat during its early occupation, but little evidence for immigration from distinct environments beyond the Khorat Plateau of Northeast Thailand. The lack of consistent isotopic differences between early and later Neolithic occupants at Ban Non Wat means that the site does not conclusively support the two-layer hypothesis.

Dengue virus transmission occurs in both epidemic and endemic cycles across tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Incidence is particularly high in much of Southeast Asia, where hyperendemic transmission plagues both urban and rural populations. However, endemicity has not been established in some areas with climates that may not support year-round viral transmission. An understanding of how dengue viruses (DENV) enter these environments and whether the viruses persist in inapparent local transmission cycles is central to understanding how dengue emerges in areas at the margins of endemic transmission. Dengue is highly endemic in tropical southern Vietnam, while increasingly large seasonal epidemics have occurred in northern Viet Nam over the last decade. We have investigated the spread of DENV-1 throughout Vietnam to determine the routes by which the virus enters northern and central regions of the country. Phylogeographic analysis of 1,765 envelope (E) gene sequences from Southeast Asia revealed frequent movement of DENV between neighboring human populations and strong local clustering of viral lineages. Long-distance migration of DENV between human population centers also occurred regularly and on short time-scales, indicating human-mediated viral invasion into northern Vietnam. Human populations in southern Vietnam were found to be the primary source of DENV circulating throughout the country, while central and northern Vietnam acted as sink populations, likely due to reduced connectedness to other populations in the case of the central regions and to the influence of temperature variability on DENV replication and vector survival and competence in the north. Finally, phylogeographic analyses suggested that viral movement follows a gravity model and indicates that population immunity and physical and economic connections between populations may play important roles in shaping patterns of DENV transmission.

The expansion of copper-base metallurgy in the mainland of Eurasia began in the Near East and ended in Southeast Asia. The recognition of this Southeast Asian metallurgical province followed in the wake of French colonial occupation of Cambodia and Laos in the nineteenth century. Subsequently, most research has concentrated in Thailand, beginning in the 1960s. A sound chronology is the prerequisite to identifying both the origins of the Bronze Age, and the social impact that metallurgy may have had on society. This article presents the revolutionary results of excavations at the site of Ban Non Wat in northeast Thailand within the broader cultural context of Southeast Asian prehistory, concluding that the adoption of copper-base metallurgy from the eleventh century BC coincided with the rise of wealthy social aggrandizers.

Identification of preserved fatty acids in archaeological floor sediments from prehistoric sites at Ban Non Wat and Nong Hua Raet in northeast Thailand using gas chromatography

Small, disc-shaped shell beads are recorded as mortuary offerings in many Neolithic and Bronze Age burials in Southeast Asia. Yet the provenance of these artefacts is often obscure, as production processes involve the removal of diagnostic morphological features, negating taxonomic classification. Here, the authors report on the combined isotopic and morphological analysis of a subset of shell beads from the site of Ban Non Wat in north-east Thailand. In addition to identifying freshwater sources for nearly all the beads, the results suggest the presence of multiple shell production centres—each with access to distinct aqueous environments—and widespread exchange in the Bronze Age.

Excavations at Non Nok Tha, in Northeast Thailand in 1965-1968 revealed for the first time in Southeast Asia, a stratigraphic transition from the Neolithic into the Bronze Age. Based on conventional charcoal radiocarbon determinations, early reports identified fourth millennium bronze casting. The proposed length of the prehistoric sequence, and the division of the Neolithic to Bronze age mortuary sequence into at least 11 phases, has stimulated a series of social interpretations all of which have in common, a social order based on ascriptive ranking into at least two groups which saw increased hierarchical divisions emerge with the initial Bronze Age. This paper presents the results of a new dating initiative, based on the ultrafiltration of human bones. The results indicate that the initial Neolithic occupation took place during the 14th century BC. The earliest Bronze Age has been placed in the 10th centuries BC. These dates are virtually identical with those obtained for the sites of Ban Chiang and Ban Non Wat. Compared with the elite early Bronze Age graves of Ban Non Wat, Non Nok Tha burials display little evidence for significant divisions in society.

Bat lyssaviruses, northern Vietnam.

This study assesses the capability of the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM, version 6 (IMERG6), and its successor, version 7 (IMERG7), in capturing rainfall variability across multiple temporal scales in Vietnam. Evaluation was performed for three climatologically distinct subregions—northern, central, and southern Vietnam—focusing on daily, intraseasonal, annual, and interannual time scales. IMERG7 shows improved performance over IMERG6 in northern Vietnam, particularly in quantifying variability at all examined time scales. In contrast, IMERG6 outperforms IMERG7 in central Vietnam, especially in capturing heavy to extreme rainfall events, which dominate this region’s rainfall regime. In southern Vietnam, the relative performance varies with time scale, with no version showing consistent superiority. While both IMERG versions exhibit region-dependent biases, IMERG7 generally performs slightly better than IMERG6 across Vietnam at most examined time scales, particularly in capturing rainfall variability, as evidenced by lower root-mean-square error values. Despite algorithmic advancements in IMERG7, results indicate that improvements in light-to-moderate rainfall detection come at the cost of reduced skill in quantifying high-intensity rainfall. These performance differences are attributed to distinct sensitivities of each version to rainfall intensity distributions. Nevertheless, both versions exhibit comparable skill in representing the temporal phase of rainfall, as evidenced by strong correlations with rain gauge observations. Findings underscore the importance of region- and time-scale-specific evaluation of satellite precipitation products and provide guidance for selecting appropriate IMERG versions for hydrological modeling and climate diagnostics in Southeast Asia. Significance Statement This study compares two versions of the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM, version 6 (IMERG6) and version 7 (IMERG7), to evaluate how well they capture rainfall patterns in Vietnam. IMERG7 performs better in the north, where light rain is common, while IMERG6 is more accurate in the central region, where heavy rain dominates. Both versions show similar skill in capturing temporal phase of rainfall. These findings are important for choosing the most suitable dataset for flood forecasting, water resource planning, and climate studies. The results also emphasize that no single product works best everywhere, underscoring the need for region-specific evaluation before using satellite data in practical applications.

The homa is a votive offering involving the construction of a fire in a hearth-altar, and the immolation of offerings in the fire. The altar is homologized with a mandala, and as with other ritual uses of mandalas, the deity evoked in the course of the ritual is located at the mandala’s center, and in this case identified with the fire itself. As a tantric ritual, the practitioner is also ritually identified with both the deity and the fire, and the offerings made into the fire are the spiritual obstacles that impede the practitioner from full awakening. Tantric homas are generally categorized according to different functions or goals, such as protection, subduing adversaries, and so on. As a form of individual practice conducive to awakening, the practitioner’s own inherent wisdom is identified with the fire, and just as the offerings are transformed and purified, the practitioner’s own spiritual obstacles are as well. Ritualized activities of maintaining and making fire are some of the most ancient forms of social coordination, which is essential to the development of the human species. Such ritualization would seem to be the basis for fire cults, forms of which are known throughout the world’s religions. In the scope of Indo-European religions, similarities of practice and symbolism provide a shared background to the homa per se. More directly, there appear to be both Vedic and Indo-Iranian traditions of ritual praxis that converge in the tantric homa. The homa is found in all of the Indic tantric traditions: Buddhist, Śaiva, and Jain. Once established as part of tantric practice, the homa was spread throughout Central, East, and Southeast Asia, particularly in its Buddhist form. This transmission of ritual practice engaged local traditions wherever it spread. Tibetan tantric traditions developed an extensive literature of homa rituals, and from there the practice also influenced Mongolian fire rituals as well. In China, interaction between tantric Buddhism and Daoism led to the creation of a homa devoted to the Northern Dipper, a figure unknown in Indian sources of Buddhist tantra. Two similar examples are found in Japan. The Shintō traditions of Yuiitsu (or Yoshida) and Miwa modified the tantric Buddhist form for the worship of a selection of Shintō deities. Similarly, the tradition of mountain asceticism, Shugendō, also adopted the homa and adapted it to its purposes. As a result of the repression of Buddhism in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the Shintō forms are no longer extant, though in the present many Shintō shrines perform rituals of various kinds in which fire plays an important role. In contrast, the Shugendō homa, sometimes as a prelude to fire-walking, remains an active part of Japanese religion into the present day. The homa is found in all of the Indic tantric traditions: Buddhist, Śaiva, and Jain. Once established as part of tantric practice, the homa was spread throughout Central, East, and Southeast Asia, particularly in its Buddhist form. This transmission of ritual practice engaged local traditions wherever it spread. Tibetan tantric traditions developed an extensive literature of homa rituals, and from there the practice also influenced Mongolian fire rituals as well. In China, interaction between tantric Buddhism and Daoism led to the creation of a homa devoted to the Northern Dipper, a figure unknown in Indian sources of Buddhist tantra. Two similar examples are found in Japan. The Shintō traditions of Yuiitsu (or Yoshida) and Miwa modified the tantric Buddhist form for the worship of a selection of Shintō deities. Similarly, the tradition of mountain asceticism, Shugendō, also adopted the homa and adapted it to its purposes. As a result of the repression of Buddhism in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the Shintō forms are no longer extant, though in the present many Shintō shrines perform rituals of various kinds in which fire plays an important role. In contrast, the Shugendō homa, sometimes as a prelude to fire-walking, remains an active part of Japanese religion into the present day. The tantric homa has been interpreted in a variety of ways, reflecting the multifaceted character of fire itself. There are two important strains of interpretation. One is the yogic interiorization of ritual found in post-Vedic Indian religion, more as a form of esoteric physiology than as a psychologized understanding of visualization. While closely related to yogic interiorization of ritual, the sexual symbolisms that are attached to all aspects of the fire rituals constitute a second strain of interpretation. These symbolic associations are important for their role in understanding tantric notions of ritual efficacy, which require greater nuance of understanding than can be attained by simply categorizing such practices as magic.

The paper discusses decorations on the bricks and tiles from the 15th to 18th centuries which were found in the ancient royal architectural relics in Northern Vietnam. The aim of this paper is to learn the production and technical process of, as well as decorative patterns on, the bricks and tiles in this period. Based on archaeological documentary sources discovered from French scholars, and the findings and studies of Vietnamese scholars, royal bricks and tiles dated from the 15th to 18th century have been discovered in the northern Vietnamese sites, including Thăng Long-Đông Kinh- Eastern capital (Hà Nội), Lam Kinh site-Tây Kinh-Western capital (Thanh Hóa province) dated from the 15th to 18th century, and the second capital of the Mạc dynasty in Dương Kinh capital (Hải Phòng province) dated from the 16th century. The contents of the paper delve into the characteristics and evolution of the decoration on the bricks and tiles progression over time in terms of materials, colour, form, decorative pattern and techniques. The form and function of the types of ornamental bricks and tiles are also covered in this study. The study is also compared, in a broader context, with the bricks and tiles in the royal architecture of the Ming and Qing periods of China and some Southeast Asian countries. The research shows continuous development through the decoration on the bricks and tiles in the ancient royal architecture in Northern Vietnam as well as cultural exchanges, and Vietnam’s unique character in the East and Southeast Asian region.This paper was presented at the 2nd SEAMEO SPAFA International Conference on Southeast Asian Archaeology on 30 May - 2 June 2016 at the Amari Watergate Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. This paper has been peer reviewed.

The origin of the domestication of chicken Gallus gallus domesticus is still a subject of debate. It principally originates from the red junglefowl G. gallus, which is distributed throughout Southeast Asia and South China. However, the prehistoric exploitation of chicken and red junglefowl in Southeast Asia has remained unclear due to a small number of samples for bone analysis. In this study, we analysed bird remains from four archaeological sites in Thailand: Ban Hua Ud (4,000–3,000 bp), Long Long Rak (1,900–1,600 bp), Ban Non Wat (3,750–1,500 bp), and Keed Kin (fifth–11th Century A.D.). Bones from pheasants/fowls (Phasianidae), storks (Ciconiidae), cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae), crows (Corvidae), and passerines (Passeriformes) were found. A small number of stork bones were found at three lowland sites, with none found at Long Long Rak. Cormorant bones were dominant at Ban Hua Ud but were only found at that site. Pheasant/fowl bones were found at all sites except Ban Hua Ud and dominated the number of identified specimens, suggesting that they were the most commonly used bird, at least after the Iron Age. Morphological bone identification criteria for the 24 Phasianidae species in Thailand have not been established; ancient DNA analysis is required to differentiate chicken/red junglefowl bone from other indigenous pheasants/fowls. It is obvious that mitochondrial DNA remained unchanged in the early stages of the domestication process. Further studies combining ancient DNA and morphological analyses are required to judge whether all of the candidate chicken bones are indeed from red junglefowl or chicken. Although these results are regionally and temporally restricted, they give important quantitative information on bird exploitation during the Neolithic and early historic Dvaravadi periods in Thailand.