SOMSAK PRAMANKIJ, SOOD SANGVICHIEN and VADHANA SUBHAVAN 1992 Modification in the Use of Mesolithic Tools in Case of Migration. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists.

Abstract: Prehistoric people who lived in Thailand made tools form pebbles and petrified wood. The technique of making stone tools in the palaeolithic period (500,000 B.P.) to mesolithic period (10,000 B.P.) used two stones, one large size and one small. Using their left (right) hand they grasped the large one and used the smaller one, grasped firmly in their right (left) hand, as a hammer stone. After finding a suitable point, the hammer stone was raised and struck at full force at this point. Small flakes were removed from the large pebble until the desired shape was achieved. In the mesolithic period the smaller size and very fine breaking surface of stone tools were found from the excavation near Sai-Yok Waterfall, Kanchanaburi Province with 1 human skeleton (Proto-Malay). This might be an earlier group of Mongoloid who lived here and made pebble tools. The tools could be classified into 19 types. We came across an article by Ben Petrusky (1985) entitled, "The First Americans: Who Were They and When did They Arrive?" Those immigrants migrated to the New Continent from Siberia across the Bering Straight by a land bridge connected between the Old World and the New World during the last Great Ice Age. They were big game hunters. The time of migration was about 12,000-13,000 B.P. We conducted an experimental technique of fitting handles made from tree branches and bamboo stems to these stone tools. Seven types out of the 19 types were used in making handles. The technique of fixing a handle was based on mesolithic tools with breaking points for insertion into the flat ends of the handles. For the tree branch we first made it into a round shape with a smooth surface, then made one end rather flat for insertion. We used a boring instrument to bore a hole at the expanded end. We enlarged the hole with burned charcoal enough to insert one end of the pebble tool. For fixing together we used string made from plants or leather bands.

VADHANA SUBHAVAN and SOMSAK PRAMANKIJ 1992 A Preliminary Report of the Prehistoric Mammal Teeth from Lampang Province. Paper presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Society of Anatomy of Thailand. Phumipol Dam, Tak Province.

Abstract: This study is a preliminary report of the prehistoric mammal teeth from Lampang Province. The findings are of Miocene epoch, about 16 million years ago. The results of the study conducted by the expert on paleontobiology of Thailand (Div. Of Geology, Dept. of Mineral Resources, Bangkok) from France and the U.S., indicate the remains are elephant, rhinosaurus, tapir, Krajong (small deer), fish, turtle, crocodile, bear (dog-like), and suid (pig).

One of the expedition members from the Museum of Prehistory, Mahidol University fond 9 pig teeth (8 molar and 1 premolar) at Nai Yod Site in 1989. These pig teeth are the first evidence in Southeast Asia. This site is at Pu Dai village, Kha Kha District, Lampang Province. Dr. Geoffrey G. Pope, University of Illinois and Dr. Raymond L. Bernor, Haward University, U.S.A., both experts on paleontobiology, reported that the suids (pig) appear to include 2 taxa. This first, referred to as Hyotherium sp., and the second is Conohyus sp. which are characterized by their small size, rather low inflated 4 principle cusps, thin enamel and presence of strong maxillary molar. The teeth can be compared with those of East Africa, Indo-Pakistan and China.

From this finding, it can be suggested that Lampang is an important site for mammal evidence in not only Thailand but in Southeast Asia.

VADHANA SUBHAVAN and SOOD SANGVICHIEN 1992 Comparative Study of Neolithic Pottery from Ban Kao Tam Kao Sam Liam of Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists.

Abstract: Two sites of neolithic pottery have been studied. They are Ban Kao and Tam Koa Sam Liam (Triangle Cave) of Kanchanaburi province, Thailand. The study dealt only with variation in shapes (morphology) and not in the quantities discovered. For Ban Kao we used the study of Mr. Per Sorenson (1969) and for Tam Koa Sam Liam (1978) we studied the collection in the Museum of Prehistory. From a comparative study of the similarities and differences we concluded that of the 27 types from Tam Koa Sam Liam, 16 are of the same shape. The collection was classified into two main groups. Group 1 includes vessels with permanent support of which there are 6 types. Group 2 includes vessels without permanent support of which there are 10 types. There are eleven different shapes of pottery. They are in the main groups 1-6 in numbers and in the main group 2-3 in numbers. From this study three types are found in great numbers and this indicates that neolithic people (4,000 B.P.) who lived in the area of Ban Kao and Tam Koa Sam Liam had the same culture in pottery making. The differences were the presence of the Tripod type at Ban Kao which was absent at Tam Koa Sam Liam, and the lack of the Lamp type at Ban Kao which was found at Tam Koa Sam Liam.