| Abstract: |
From the excavations at the prehistorical sites of Non Pa Wai, Nil Kham Haeng, and Non Mak La, all located in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley, Lopburi Province, central Thailand by the Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project (TAP), four classes of organic remains are undergoing intensive analysis by a team of specialists in the U.S. Faunal remains are being analyzed by Karen Mudar (National Park Service, Washington, DC), skeletal remains by Anagnostis Agelarakis (Adelphi University, Garden City, NY), botanical remains by Steven Weber (University of Washington, Vancouver, WA), and phytoliths by Lisa Kealhofer (Santa Clara University, CA). This paper offers an overview of the preliminary results of this program of organic analysis and interpretations of the trends seen in the analytical programs currently underway. Ultimately, the project aims to assess the extent to which the results support our hypothesis that because the local region was agriculturally insufficient, copper was produced for subsistence trading to augment an inadequate food supply.
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