PRYOR, RUTH 1992 Ceramic Fabrics from Ban Ana Kaen Saen 2. M.A. Thesis, University of London, Institute of Archaeology.

TAYLES, NANCY 1992 The People of Khok Phanom Di: Health as Evidence of Adaptation in a Prehistoric Southeast Asian Population. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Abstract: Skeletal remains of prehistoric Southeast Asians have been recovered from numerous sites, particularly in the modern state of Thailand. Despite the availability of this material, relatively little is known about the people represented by the skeletons. The skeleton has the potential to provide evidence not only of genetics but also of phenotypic response to the environment. The quality of nutrition, exposure to disease and the pattern of physical activities can all be reflected. This information can be converted into a representation of the living people and their adaptation to the environment.

In 1985 a series of 154 skeletons were recovered from an excavation of the 4000 year-old site of Khok Phanom Di in Central Thailand. The skeletons are largely complete and the bone in excellent condition. A wealth of information on the environment and culture has been recovered from the site and its environs. The skeletal remains have provided an opportunity for a detailed case study of the adaptation of a prehistoric population living in a coastal environment in Southeast Asia. State of health is a reflection of both genetics and environment and has been used as the measure of adaptation. General evidence of health has been combined with evidence of disease in making an assessment of the biological success of the population.

The people of Khok Phanom Di appear to have suffered high morbidity in childhood, with almost universal episodes of growth disruption and high infant mortality. Evidence of diet from plant and animal remains indicates that food was probably plentiful and varied, which suggests that disease rather than poor nutrition was responsible for this infant and childhood morbidity and mortality. Evidence of anaemia was common and the severity of the skeletal response in some individuals suggests that it was of genetic origin. There are several genetic anaemias common in Southeast Asia today. Such deleterious genes are believed to have survived in these populations, despite the severity of the anaemia, through a comparative advantage to carriers of the gene in malarial environments. This suggests that both malaria and the haemoglobinopathy were implicated in the poor health and high mortality during childhood of the people of Khok Phanom Di. Tropical environments encourage potential pathogens to flourish and in addition to malaria other parasites may have contributed to childhood ill health. After the vulnerable period of childhood, adults were able to maintain good bone structure and reproduce the population despite the high cost of infant deaths. Degeneration of the limb joints and the spine was common and probably indicates a physically active life. Dental pathology was also common and this source of infection may have contributed to a short adult lifespan. There are multiple sources of evidence of environmental changes over time which coincide with changes in the pattern of morbidity and mortality in the population. Infant mortality reduced but the health of children and adults deteriorated. The absence of adult burials in the upper levels of the burial ground and the discontinuation of the use of the excavation area for interments may signal the emigration of at least some of the population or indicate a change in social behaviour in response to the environmental changes.

There is evidence that the people of Khok Phanom Di had the energy and creativity to make full use of the wealth of natural resources available to them in maintaining crops of domesticated rice, developing a highly skilled ceramic technology and maintaining contact with a wide trade network. Although their health appears to have been rather poor in comparison with other prehistoric populations, the richness of their culture shows that they were nevertheless successful in adapting to a potentially lethal malarial environment.

The suggestion of the presence of one of the haemoglobinopathies in prehistoric Southeast Asia populations is not new, but the skeletons of the people of Khok Phanom Di have provided the first firm evidence of the antiquity of the genes. They indicate that both the malarial parasite and the human genetic response have probably had a long-standing and profound influence on the lives of the people of Southeast Asia.

THOMPSON, G.B. 1992 Archaeobotanical Investigations at Khok Phanom Di, central Thailand. Ph.D. Dissertation, Australian Natinal University.

Abstract: This thesis concerns the role of plants in the lives, and especially the diet, of the prehistoric potting community at Khok Phanom Di, a large mound situated on the Bang Pakong floodplain at the head of the Gulf of Thailand. The site lies on the southeastern seaboard, currently more than 20km from the coast, but was occupied between 2000-1500 BC, on a higher shoreline. Excavations during 1985 involved extensive and systematic flotation to extract charred plant remains of rice have been examined, together with remarkably well preserved coprolites, mineralised wood and fibres, possibly the remains of burial shrouds. There were also impressions of leaves and stems for which identification has not been attempted. The archaeobotanical materials from the site contribute to environmental reconstruction and an understanding of the use of plant resources by this mangrove-based community.

This archaeolobotanical study stands in isolation in mainland Southeast Asia in its scope and methodology. Reference collections have been established and ethnobotanical surveys undertaken in the mangroves and adjacent lowland of southeastern Thailand. Particular emphasis was given to the taphonomy of rice. An ethnographic model of rice processing is explored. Comparisons between methods of post-harvest processing of rice and those for wheats and barley, show that rice waste-products are less likely to be exposed to fire during processing, which helps to explain why rice is less well represented in the charred archaeobotanical record than other cereals.

Diagnostic criteria for distinguishing between the remains of wild and domesticated rice using SEM studies of lemma and palea features have been investigated. Reinform abscission scars and the absence of awns in some of the archaeological husks suggest that the Khok Phanom Di people had access to domesticated rice supplies. Shell harvesting knives andstone hoes confirm that the community was involved in some form of cultivation, probably in ephemeral, freshwater swamps inland.

This research has extended beyond the analysis of the plant remains to a broader view of the plant communities (mangrove, saltflats and freshwater swamps) within access of the site. Ethnographic, ethnobotanical and ecological observations are used to examine these habitats in terms of possible resource use, and thus to the broad subsistence base beyond the carbohydrate staple.

YENCHIT SUKAWASANA 1991 The Study of Iron Objects from Ban Nong Bua, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. M.A. Thesis, University of Lodon Institute of Archaeology.

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