Open AccessDATING THE BRONZE AGE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA. WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Author(s) -
Charles Higham,
Thomas F. G. Higham,
Katerina Douka
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of indo-pacific archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2375-0510
DOI - 10.7152/jipa.v43i0.15411
Subject(s) - radiocarbon dating , chronology , prehistory , bronze age , archaeology , mainland , southeast asia , geography , bronze , ancient history , history
We have dated human bone, freshwater shell, charcoal and rice grains from key sites in mainland Southeast Asia in order to establish the chronological scaffolding for later prehistory (ca 2500 BC-AD 500). In a recent report on the metal remains from the site of Ban Chiang, however, this chronology has been challenged. Here, we respond to these claims and show that they are unfounded and misleading. We maintain the integrity of the Bayesian-modelled radiocarbon results that identify the arrival of the first rice and millet farmers in mainland Southeast Asia towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, with the first evidence for the casting of bronze by about 1100 BC. Social change that followed the establishment of metallurgy was rapid and profound.