Khok Phanom Di

Khok Phanom Di (โคกพนมดี) is a deeply stratified prehistoric mound located in the Chonburi Province, Central Thailand, situated on the eastern margin of the Bangkok Plain in the lower reaches of the Bang Pakong River.^[1] Excavations conducted in 1984–1985 by archeologist Charles F. W. Higham revealed a layer of cultural material seven meters thick, representing a long history of occupation.^[2] Radiocarbon dating indicates the site was occupied for approximately five centuries, spanning the period between roughly 2000 and 1500 BCE.^[1] When first settled, Khok Phanom Di was located on a large estuary, a remarkably rich naturally-replenished food resource, supported by a mangrove-dominated shore.^[2] The site's rapid growth in height, reaching up to 12 meters above the surrounding rice fields, was due to the regular deposition of mollusk remains forming shell middens, and waste from pottery manufacture.^[1] Khok Phanom Di has been noted as having special important to archeological research in Southeast Asia due to its long and very well-preserved history of occupation.

The site provides valuable insight into human adaptation to the changing tropical coastal habitat and subsequent social dynamics over roughly 20 generations.^[1] Excavations uncovered a cemetery containing 154 burials, where individuals were interred alongside ancestors, often arranged in sequential clusters.^[2] The inhabitants were specialized coastal hunter-gatherers, exploiting the abundant marine resources and cultivating rice, alongside taking advantage of their environment to create shell jewelry and high-quality potting clay.^[1] The long occupation sequence saw major environmental changes, including a dramatic shift in coastline and the possible relocation of the Bang Pakong River channel, which reduced easy access to marine resources.^[1] These environmental shifts coincided with notable changes in mortuary ritual, physical activity (such as reduced upper body strength in men), and wealth distribution.^[1] Khok Phanom Di was additionally a prominent pottery-making center, and in later mortuary phases, some women and infants were interred with extraordinary wealth, including vast amounts of exotic shell jewelry and tools of the pottery trade, suggesting that women attained high social status through the manufacture and exchange of ceramics.^[1]

Observation of material culture at the site through excavations has given researchers valuable insight into how culture and life shifted for the inhabitants of Khok Phanom Di as conditions changed. During the earliest phases of occupation at the site, there is a lack of distinct mortuary ritual, and the inhabitants lived very similarly to hunter-gatherer groups nearby.^[3] Above the remains of this first period, archeologists found distinct burial clusters and evidence of more advanced incised pottery production, indicating a transition away from purely hunter-gatherer life.^[3] The ecologically abundant estuary environment eventually begins to wane, correlating with decreased marine material found in the site's middens, and evidence of domestic rice agriculture.^[3] Once marine conditions returned to the area, rice agriculture appears to have been abandoned in favor of estuarine and marine sustenance, though the presence of significant wealth disparities in grave goods among the interred indicates major shifts to socio-cultural life at the site after the change.^[3] Overall, these changes in material remains over the long inhabitation period of the site illustrate the adaptability of the people who inhabited it, and that changes were not linear and instead rooted in environmental and cultural factors.

The cultural material found at Khok Phanom Di has been divided into seven distinct groups based on age and similarities in the burials within them. This has allowed scholars to present a clear progression of life at Khok Phanom Di as culture and their environment shifted thanks to preservation of context at the site.

The first mortuary phase (MP) has been defined by the first individuals and cultural remains that were interred at the site, thus dating to roughly around 2000 BCE.^[3] The lowest layer has been noted to have similarities with the nearby archeological site Nong Nor, and may represent a resettling of this older site's inhabitants.^[3] Found in this phase is ash and charcoal, which are suspected to be related to pottery firing, based on a nearby pit with 21 burnishing stones and a clay anvil.^[3] A second pit in this phase contained two pottery vessels and seven polished stone adze heads.^[3] Other artifacts within this layer include an awl, whetstones, and fishing hooks.^[3]

Six individuals were found belonging to the first MP: two men, a woman, and three infants.^[3] One of the infants, aged approximately two and a half years old, was buried in a flexed position, while the others were laying flat with their heads to the east.^[3] Twelve shell beads were found alongside one of the men, and traces of red ochre were detected on the remains of one of the infants, indicating minimal attention to grave goods during this time.^[3]

The second MP shares much of its material culture with the first, still containing similar clay anvils, awls, fishhooks, and pottery, but is distinguished by very different burial practices.^[3] The individuals buried that have been associated with MP2 are now placed in six tight clusters in a checkerboard pattern,^[1] and each cluster contains men, women, and children.^[3] The vast majority of the burials continued to be laid flat with their heads pointing east, and though grave goods are still more sparse than during later MPs, 25 intricate decorated pots were unearthed alongside the buried.^[3] One of the men was interred with a large number of shell beads,^[1] one of the women had multiple burnishing stones,^[3] and mineralized wood under some of the burials indicates funeral practices of some sort.^[2] MP2 is also noted as having a very high number of infant burials.^[3]

The practices in this phase of the site are distinct and set it apart from the first phase, with shifts in burial methodology and the adoption of more numerous and more ornate grave goods. The tightly grouped burials are not seen reproduced by other coastal Southeast Asian settlements,^[3] and the styles of the decorated pots do not match with those of inland Neolithic settlements.^[3]

The third MP, dated to the 18th to 19th century BCE^[3] marks a significant advancement in the culture of the people of Khok Phanom Di. Much like the second MP, the grave are grouped into tight clusters, often directly over the top of those from the previous mortuary phase.^[3] The combination of women, men, and children, all pointing east, within the clusters continued as well.^[3] The burials during this phase were within a thick shell midden that had straight edges and right angles, suggesting that the shell were originally contained within a manmade structure that decomposed over time.^[3] Charles Higham speculates this may have been evidence of wooden mortuary chambers.^[3] Grave goods during this MP continued to consist of shell beads and pottery.^[3]

Major changes began to occur during this phase in line with the general progression in Southeast Asia from hunter-gatherer cultures into Neolithic groups. This is the time period when it appears that the local inhabitatns began interacting regularly with domesticated plants and animals. In two burials from the third MP, fecal matter was able to be recovered and analyzed, and partially digested grains of rice of a domestic variety were identified.^[3] In addition to that, there were also the remains of beetles that have been identified as pests common in long-term rice storage.^[3] In addition to the biological remains of rice, large shells that appeared to be knives or trowels were also unearthed in this phase.^[3] Testing with modern replicas of the shell knives revealed that the wear patterns on them are consistent with what would be observed if they were used to harvest rice.^[3] Regarding the marine food remains, there appears to be an increase in freshwater shellfish around this time, and Charles Higham believes that this could indicate a potential recession in sea level, possibly creating a more favorable environment for rice agriculture.^[3] In addition to the potential of rice domestication, a bone from a domestic Thai dog was also found.^[3] Strontium isotope analysis on the teeth of the burials indicate some of the women interred during the later stages of MP3 likely were born and raised outside of Khok Phanom Di before migrating there later in life.^[3] Researchers have cited this evidence as indication that the inhabitants of the site must have had contact with outside parties that were well-versed in rice cultivation due to the speed at which the technology was developed, and that the likely recession in sea level was a catalyzing opportunity in the adoption of this lifestyle.^[3]

The fourth MP brings further environmental change. The tight burial clusters that were common in other MPs shifted to individual graves, indicating a change in beliefs around burial ritual, though these induvial graves were still in small clusters.^[3] It's theorized that during this time the river may have shifted course away from Khok Phanom Di. In the food remains found, there's a decrease in ocean dwelling and estuarine species presence, and an increase in riverine species.^[1] Lending further support for this theory, there's a dramatic decrease in the amount of shell beads buried with individuals in this period, along with a reduction in the amount and size of shell middens found around the burials as well.^[1] With increasing freshwater abundance, rice cultivation seems to have flourished. Shell knives and granite hoes are both observed during this phase in their highest numbers.^[2][3] Also supporting this theory is a decrease in the physical robustness of the torsos of males buried during this time, which has been attributed to physically demanding activities associated with navigating waterways decreasing.^[1] Infant mortality, which had been high throughout the earlier phases of the site's inhabitation, began to decrease during this phase, likely as a result of less exposure to malaria through mosquitos due to the lessened proximity to water.^[1]

The fifth MP is marked by a return of marine conditions as evidenced by an increase of saltwater species remains found, and a decrease of freshwater shellfish remains.^[3] The shell knives and granite hoes that were abundant in MP4 are no longer found in this phase, indicating a likely cessation of local rice cultivation.^[3] Scholars note this shift in sustenance away from abundant estuarine resources to cultivated rice when the environment necessitated it, and then returning once the aquatic environment returned, as evidence of how adaptable the inhabitants of this settlement were. In addition to the shift in environment and sustenance patterns, MP5 also marks a very dramatic change in culture.

The long-standing practice of large clustered burials that began in MP2 finally ends during this phase, and in this phase an unusually small number of notable people are buried in individual graves.^[3] The burials consist of an extremely wealthy woman flanked by two infants, and a male at the margin of the excavated area.^[3] The woman's grave was significantly larger and deeper than the other burials at this site, and she was adorned with clay cylinders, shell bead garments, pottery tools, and more, earning her the nickname the Princess of Khok Phanom Di.^[3] The decorative items she was buried with include 120,787 shell beads that were likely stitched into at least two distinct garments; 950 larger I-shaped beads near her chest; shell ornaments including a bangle, horned discs, and earrings in a style novel to this site; eight ornately decorated ceramic vessels; and five pierced canine teeth.^[3] This level of honor in a burial is entirely unprecedented at this site and represents a significant deviation from the normal customs by orders of magnitude. Her skeleton was also covered very thoroughly in red ochre pigment.^[3] Inexplicably, there was also a headless male buried beside her with no significant quantity of grave goods.^[3]

In a small shell container by the woman's ankle there are two well-worn burnishing stones as well as a clay pottery anvil.^[3] The woman's wrist bones are also very well developed, indicating to researchers that she was likely a master potter.^[3] Buried two meters away from her is an infant, approximately aged 15 months, with a very similar burial.^[3] She was interred in an adult-sized grave and adorned with thousands of shell beads, hundreds of I-shaped beads, covered in red ochre, and laid to rest with four clay vessels and a shell bangle.^[3] In a container by the infant's ankle there was an infant-sized pottery anvil and burnishing stone.^[3] This indicates to researchers that daughters of master potters were likely trained in the craft from a very young age, and potters likely held great significance to the community.^[3]

Also in MP5 was the burial of a second infant with some shell beads and two ornately decorated pots, and a man further away near the edge of the excavated unit who was adorned with many shell beads and other ritual goods.^[3] While these two burials were wealthy by Khok Phanom Di's standards, they did not have nearly the extent of wealth as the master potter burial.^[3]

The sixth MP continues the trend of burials more wealthy than what was previously seen at the site before MP5. Distinct from the burials during MP5 that all had some level of notable wealth, those unearthed at MP6 are split into a wealthier and poorer group. One group consisting of two women and a child appear to have been buried on a platform with a clay floor and walls.^[3] The two women both had quite a few shell beads, and both had pottery anvils as well.^[3] The child also had a significant quantity of beads.^[3] In front of these burials that were adorned with many good laid two men, two women, and four infants, who may have been buried in a wooden structure based on nearby post holes.^[3] These eight individuals only had 15 beads in total among them, and one woman possessed a pottery anvil while the other had burnishing stones.^[3] These burials were very poor compared to the others from MPs 5 and 6, and represent a very clear class divide within the inhabitants.

The seventh and final phase of the site marks its end as a burial ground, and only has a small handful of scattered burials.^[2] It's thought that after this time the site was abandoned as a cemetery and may have briefly been used as a pottery workshop area.^[1]

The end of Khok Phanom Di burials marks the completion of an approximately 20-generation long tradition, ending sometime around 1500 BCE.^[2]