KHOK PHANOM DI: NEW RADIOCARBON DATES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS

Khok Phanom Di

Authors

  • Charles Franklin Higham University of Otago
  • Thomas Franklin Higham University of Vienna

Abstract

Khok Phanom Di is a Neolithic site located on the former estuary of the Bang Pakong River in Central Thailand. The initial dating of occupation was based on ten radiocarbon determinations from charcoal, that placed its foundation in about 2000 BCE and the end of the seven-stage mortuary sequence five centuries later. Here we report on a new series of dates derived from human bone, shell and charcoal embedded in stratified structural remains. These suggest an earlier occupation than has previously been published with implications for identifying a coastal expansion of early rice farmers along the coast of Vietnam and along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Siam.

Author Biographies

Charles Franklin Higham, University of Otago

Emeritus Professor

Archaeology Programme

Thomas Franklin Higham, University of Vienna

Professor

Department of Evolutionary Anthropology

Published

2022-12-20