Late Stone Age Communities in the Thai-Malay Peninsula
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LATE STONE AGE COMMUNITIES IN THE THAI-MALAY PENINSULA Henrik Lekenvall University of Uppsala, Sweden Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT historical interpretation, the nature of LSA communities The paper presents the results from archaeological re- and the formation of farming communities in the TMP connaissance carried out in Rattaphum district in remain poorly understood. Songkhla Province, Thai-Malay Peninsula. The purpose Archaeological reconnaissance was carried out by the of the investigation was to evaluate the potential of se- author and archaeologists from the 13th Fine Arts De- lected areas for further study, and to contribute to the partment (FAD), Songkhla. The archaeological reconnais- understanding of the Late Stone Age communities in the sance was based on surface finds from caves and rock area. Specific emphasis is put on evaluating the method- shelters, interviews with local informants on household ology employed during the reconnaissance, which was collections, and museum visits. The use of local house- based on community involvement. The results from the hold collections represents a novel way of identifying reconnaissance are presented and discussed in terms of suitable areas for surveying, and it also contributed to the prevailing discourse on agricultural development locating new archaeological sites. Moreover, it enabled during the Late Stone Age. A review of the archaeology of local communities to become involved in the reconnais- the Thai-Malay Peninsula is given as a background. The sance. archaeological reconnaissance revealed seven caves/rock shelters with primary (surface finds) or secondary (oral THE AGRICULTURAL SYNOPSIS testimonial) evidence of Late Stone Age communities. Agricultural development in SEA has usually been inter- However, no further conclusions on the agricultural preted in relation to linguistics and the modern distribu- transformation in the area can be made based on this tion of ethnic groups. The model is that Austroasiatic study. More archaeological surveys and detailed site (AA) speaking and Austronesian (AN) speaking rice studies are needed. farming communities originated and spread from the Yangtze River Valley in southern China, the former by Keywords: Thai-Malay Peninsula; Caves; Rock shelters; land, and the latter by sea (Higham 2002). The AA and Agriculture; Late Stone Age; Local community; Archaeo- AN expansion occurred between the mid-third and mid- logical reconnaissance; Environmental data second millennium B.C., and the AA dispersal probably began slightly before the movement of AN speaking INTRODUCTION groups (Bellwood 2007). Archaeological research in the Thai-Malay Peninsula Current available data indicates that rice was domesti- (TMP) has predominantly focused on the development of cated in the Yangtze River Area in the early Holocene urbanism in Satingphra and Kedah (Allen 1991; 1997, (Crawford 2012; Liu et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2010), or even as early as the late Pleistocene (Hai et al. 2007), but Stargardt 1973; 1976; 1983 . Regional prehistory and the ) did not reach Thailand until the late third or early second Late Stone Age (LSA) – early agriculturalists, in particu- millennium B.C. (Higham 2005). This inferred date of the lar - have remained unexplored. Current knowledge on dispersal of rice farmers in the region about 4000 B.P. LSA communities is based on archaeological information corresponds rather well with the more recent excavations derived from few, often very disturbed, cave and rock of stratified cultural layers at the site Ban Non Wat, which shelter sites. Polished stone implements, rock paintings places the start of rice agriculture at 1650 B.C. (Higham and ceramics have been recovered at many locations on and Higham 2009). the peninsula, but the provenience of the remains has According to Bellwood (1993, 2007) and Higham rarely been determined. (2002, also see Higham 1996), this migration of peoples On the basis of the apparent similarities between the led to cultural and socio-economic assimilation of Hoab- material culture recorded from the few sites discovered so inhian foraging groups by farming communities. Never- far in the TMP, and archaeological remains found in other theless, different socio-economies also co-existed in LSA contexts in the rest of Southeast Asia (SEA), it has neighbouring and contemporary sites, creating a mosaic implicitly been assumed that the TMP followed the same of cultural variation (Hutterer 1976, cited in Bellwood culture-historical trajectories as the rest of SEA (e.g. see 2007: 155). This is exemplified by the hunter-gatherer Bellwood 2007, Higham 1989). As a result of this culture- JOURNAL OF INDO-PACIFIC ARCHAEOLOGY 32 (2012): 78-86 LEKENVALL: LATE STONE AGE COMMUNITIES IN THE THAI-MALAY PENINSULA Figure 1: Map of southern SEA showing the research area and important sites mentioned in the text. Site Primary finds Secondary Oral testimony Previous finds by finds the 13th FAD Khao Rakian - - Ground stone axe, ceramics, LSA ceramics, human human skeletal remains (includ- skeletal remains. ing 11 crania). Khao Nui LSA ceramics - Ground stone axe, ceramics, LSA ceramics. human skeletal remains. Khao Khua Historic and - Human skeletal remains. - LSA ceramics Khao Tok Nan - - Ground stone tools. - Khao Joompa - Ground - - stone axe Khao Chang Lon Hammerstone - Ceramics, human skeletal re- - mains, shells. Khao Daeng Historic and - - - LSA ceramics Table 1: The sites and archaeological finds associated with them. populations which have persisted in parts of the TMP rather point at long-term patterns of local and regional until the present (Albrecht and Moser 1996; Pookajorn change. She has even proposed that an indigenous process 1991). The occurrence of LSA artifacts and human skele- of cultivation may have been present in the area early on. tal remains in cave and rock shelters has been interpreted as inhumations, which are linked with the arrival of farm- EARLIER RESEARCH IN THE TMP ing communities during the LSA (Anderson 1997, Bell- Excavations at the Long Rongrien Rockshelter site in wood 2007). Krabi, peninsular Thailand (Anderson 1988, 1990, 1997, However, for peninsular Thailand there exist no se- 2005; Mudar and Anderson 2007), and at one of the sites cure archaeological evidence for a change from a hunter- in Perak peninsular Malaysia (Zuraina 1994, 2005, Mat- gatherer mode of subsistence to an agricultural one in the samura and Zuraina 1999) have revealed human occupa- period between 4000 – 2500 B.P. Current archaeological tion in the region which dates back 40, 000 years. Occu- data and environmental data do not support a rapid re- pation in the region is also evident from archaeological placement of foraging communities by farming communi- contexts dated to 26, 000 B.P. at the sites of Moh Khiew I ties (Kealhofer 2003). The migration hypothesis has often and Sakai Cave in Krabi and Trang Provinces, respective- found strong support by archaeologists working in SEA, ly (Albrecht et al. 1993; Pookajorn 1991, 1994, 1996). but according to Kealhofer (ibid) environmental data (Figure 1). During the period between 22, 000 – 14, 000 79 LEKENVALL: LATE STONE AGE COMMUNITIES IN THE THAI-MALAY PENINSULA B.P., there is a gap in the archaeological record. This has rice husks of various shapes, which could indicate rice been attributed to rising sea levels as it has been assumed domestication (Asawamas 2008: 39). that some people resided in caves and rock shelters in coastal tracts which today lie under water (Auetrakulvit AREA DESCRIPTION 2005: 50-51; Srisuchat 2005: 33). Songkhla Province is the main focus of this study. (Figure The archaeological data of the TMP from 12, 000 – 2). The landscape surrounding the sites is characterized 5000 years B.P. primarily derive from cave and rock by a valley-like depression and is surrounded by higher shelter sites, and are associated with Hoabinhian cultural elevated terraces. Presently in the area, rice agriculture is remains (Adi 2005: 46). Hoabinhian assemblages are the most common land-use practiced, followed by field radiocarbon-dated to between 18,000 – 3000 years ago crops, vegetable plantations and fruit tree plantations (Bellwood 2007: 158). In Thailand, these sites are Lang (Forestry Statistics of Thailand 2007). The uplands are Rongrien and Khiew II in Krabi Province, and Thung generally characterized by rubber tree and orchard planta- Nong Nien and La Sawang in Satun Province (Auetrakul- tions. Land use is mainly attributed to rice agriculture and vit 2005: 50-62). In Malaysia, the sites of Gua Sagu, Gua other crops in the western margins of the Great Lakes, Kechil and Gua Peraling in Pahang, Gua Taat in Tereng- Thale Noi, Thale Luang, and Thale Sap Songkhla (Oma- ganu and Gua Cha, in Ulu Kelantan (Adi 2005: 47) and kupt 1972; Panapitukkul et al. 2005). (Figure 3). Kota Tampan in Perak (Zuraina and Tjia 1988) are asso- ciated with the same cultural tradition. Open sites associ- ated with Hoabinhian remains include (the now de- stroyed) shell middens in Malaysia (Adi (1983: 53-54). The total number of recorded Stone Age sites in pen- insular Thailand has been estimated to be about fifty by Srisuchat (1987, 1997, cited in Anderson 2005: 144). For peninsular Malaysia, Adi (2005: 47) has estimated the number of sites to be more than 100. Yet, around 60 sites were recovered alone in Surathani Province, peninsular Thailand, during an archaeological survey by the 13th FAD in the 1980s. Three caves, Tham Pak Om, Tham Bueng Bab and Khao Kichan were excavated. The sites are associated with Hoabinhian and Neolithic remains (Fine Arts Department, 1986). Excavations at Khao Raki- an Cave in Songkhla Province have also revealed LSA remains in this area (13th Fine Arts Department, 1986). Stargardt report a presence of secondary burials with skulls and long bones in caves and rock shelters in Phatta- lung Province (1983: 4; 2003: 104) on the western side of the Songkhla Lakes, which are probably associated with LSA communities. Rock paintings have been recorded in context with Hoabinhian and Neolithic surface finds in Figure 2: The research area.