| Abstract: |
Identifying and interpreting the social consequences of the adoption of bronze and iron technology in Northeast Thailand is anchored in the establishment of a secure chronological framework. Achieving this has come a significant step closer with the recent dating of two key sites: Ban Non Wat and Ban Chiang. At both, the initial occupation by Neolithic rice farmers took place in the mid 2nd millennium BCE. The initial casting of copper based artefacts was under way during the 11th century BCE, with iron smelting and forging following six centuries later. The new evidence from Ban Non Wat has revealed a sudden rise in the wealth of an elite social group during the early Bronze Age that was maintained for at least six generations, followed by an equally rapid decline. A second surge in mortuary wealth in the late Iron Age was sustained into the 6th and 7th centuries CE with the formation of regional states.
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