". . .without question the most important prehistoric settlement so far discovered in south-east Asia."
". . .the centre of a remarkable phenomenon of human cultural, social, and technological evolution. . ."
 UNESCO World Heritage Committee

Special Announcement #1 -- The first volume of the Thai Archaeology Series published by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is available. The volume is titled Ban Chiang, A Prehistoric Village in Northeast Thailand I: The Human Skeletal Remains by Michael Pietrusewsky and Michele Toomay Douglas . More

Special Announcement #2 -- The Southeast Asian Archaeology Scholarly Website is online. This site is designed for scholars working in Southeast Asia and the Ban Chiang skeletal database. The site currently features a searchable bibliography of over 7300 references on Southeast Asia. We encourage all to visit this site and use this wonderful resource.

Special Announcement #3 -- Check out the website of The Middle Mekong Archaeology Project (MMAP ) to learn about an exciting new project in northern Laos.  MMAP has completed its first field season and expects ongoing work to shed more light on the Ban Chiang cultural tradition and the development of agriculture in Southeast Asia. 

Special announcement #4 – For scholars! To reach our Southeast Asian Archaeology bibliographic database (10,000 references and counting), to access downloadable files of Ban Chiang and Non Nok Tha skeletal data, and to access searchable databases with provenience, descriptions, images, and analytical results of all the Ban Chiang metal artifacts and crucibles, go to our Southeast Asian Archaeology Scholarly Website.

"Oops, I tripped!"  And so begins the story of how one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Southeast Asia came about.  After Stephen Young's discovery in 1966, archaeologists from the Fine Arts Department of Thailand and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology  teamed-up to begin excavations at Ban Chiang.  Two major excavations took place in 1974 and 1975 under the direction of Dr. Chester F. Gorman of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and Pisit Charoenwongsa of the Fine Arts Department of Thailand.  After the untimely death of Dr. Gorman in 1981, Dr. Joyce C. White of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, became the project director.  Dr. White continues to be responsible for the analysis and publication of the Ban Chiang excavation s.

A Timeline of Discovery:  Highlights of the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Thailand.

Ban Chiang is best known for the beautiful pottery the ancient villagers made, but there are many more types of artifacts that came from this interesting site.  After two field seasons, archaeologists had recovered literally tons of material to be analyzed.  This material included pottery, metal, stone, soil, charcoal, animal bone, and human skeletons.  Some of these materials have been thoroughly analyzed, such as the crucibles , others, such as the rollers , contain mysteries still unsolved.

Better yet, "Where does Southeast Asia belong in the development of human civilization?"  Before Ban Chiang was excavated, the answer from archaeologists would have been, "the prehistoric societies of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, were cultural backwaters of China and India."  Archaeologists have long linked the development of bronze metallurgy (the Bronze Age) with rise of state and urban civilizations.  The Bronze Age was also synonymous with kings, standing armies, gargantuan temples and defensive walls, but Ban Chiang tells of a different Bronze Age.  At Ban Chiang archaeologists found a fully developed bronze metallurgy, about the same age as the Shang civilization in China, but essentially in a peaceful village context.  Archaeologists are still trying to digest the presence of a sophisticated technology in a society with little social hierarchy, and one that seems unwarlike no less. Today, because of the research at Ban Chiang, we know Southeast Asia has its own story to tell concerning the development of agriculture, metallurgy, society and art, the stuff that makes the human story so interesting.

 
Bronze Works by Ardeth Anderson Abrams

The Ancient Inhabitants of Ban Chiang

Who were the people that lived at the Ban Chiang site?  What did they look like?  What do we know about their daily lives? How long did they live?  What diseases did they have?  Physical anthropologists have studied the skeletal and dental remains found at the site to answer these questions.  For more information click here

Meet the People Who Are Telling Ban Chiang's Story

The excavations at Ban Chiang were a cooperative effort by the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the Fine Arts Department in Thailand.  A multinational, multidisciplinary team of scholars have been investigating Ban Chiang for nearly 25 years.  The team is comprised of archaeologists, geologists, artists, physical anthropologists, archaeo-metallurgists, chemists and others.   The current project director is Dr. Joyce C. White .

Meet the Ban Chiang Gang

Join Friends of Ban Chiang

We need your help!   Join the Friends of Ban Chiang (FOBC) and help ensure the continued analysis and preservation of this important link to our shared human past.  Funds received help support ongoing research and publication.  FOBC has supported student assistants, AMS dates, equipment for the Thailand Palaeoenvironment Project, and even the development of this web site.  Want to keep up with our work?  All Friends receive the biannual newsletter, The Ban Chiang UpDATE .

For comments or questions contact:
Ardeth Abrams, ardeth@sas.upenn.edu