Thai-Malay Peninsula and South China Sea networks (500 BC–AD 200), based on a reappraisal of “Sa Huynh-Kalanay”-related ceramics

Abstract

From 500 BC to AD 200, cultural exchanges in the South China Sea were emphasized by the expansion and intensification of long-distance interaction networks. Various archaeological objects, exchanged or imitated, provide evidence of multiple contacts. Interactions in relation to ceramics are attested through the so-called Sa Huynh-Kalanay-related ceramics, whose decorations allow significant stylistic comparisons between sites of the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Vietnam, the Philippines, Borneo and Eastern Indonesia. This paper aims to explore the various modes of circulation of Sa Huynh-Kalanay-related pottery and to define whether they involved the movement of goods and/or of people such as merchants or craftsmen. The analysis focuses on pottery assemblages from fifteen sites recently excavated by the Thai-French archaeological mission in the Thai-Malay Peninsula. The reconstruction of various chaînes opératoires and the identification of pottery traditions reveal some Sa Huynh-Kalanay-related pottery were produced by local groups while others have an exogenous origin. Results highlight the socio-cultural and political complexity of groups in line with the production, circulation, and use of the pottery.