Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, vol. 2C: The Metal Remains in Regional Context ed. by Joyce C. White and Elizabeth G. Hamilton

A comprehensive analysis of metal remains from Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, reveals that regional economic networks during the late second to first millennia BCE were community-based and nonhierarchical. The study, which includes contributions from multiple scholars, challenges previous assumptions about the Phu Lon production signature by demonstrating that prehistoric sites sourced metals from diverse networks, including Sepon in Laos, which was likely a primary copper source for Ban Chiang as early as 1000 BCE. Using geochemical characterization and lead isotopic analyses, researchers found that while metal production techniques varied regionally—with Central Thailand focusing on copper and Northeast Thailand on tin bronze—the casting traditions shared similarities, such as the use of lagged spouted crucibles and metalworking hearths. This synthesis contextualizes metal production within broader social growth and interaction patterns in Southeast Asia.

Halcrow, S. E., & Chang, N. J. (2021). Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, vol. 2C: The Metal Remains in Regional Context ed. by Joyce C. White and Elizabeth G. Hamilton. Asian Perspectives, 60(2), 462–464. https://doi.org/10.1353/asi.2021.0012