| Abstract: |
Khao Sam Kaeo pottery producted using <i> RKE </i> (Rotative Kinetic Energy) and havign a morphological repertoire distin ct (sic) from domestic wares, <i> KSK-RKE 1, KSK-RKE 2, </i> and <i> KSK-RKE 3, </i> are presented in this chapter along with the exchange systems I believe they represent, using Indian and other Southeast Asian comparative data. The sole morphological type for the <i> KSE-RKE 1 </i> technical tradition comes from India -- <i> kendis </i> with a ridge lip -- and the clay source used to produce it is the same as that used for the presumably local domestic ceramics <i> (KSK-T.I). </i> For the <i> KSK-RKE 2, </i> characterised by a very homogeneous and fine salmon-pink paste, the comparative data come mostly from Óc Eo (An Giang province, Vietnam) and surrounding sites in Southeast Asia, where they are thought to be of an Indian origion. The KSK-RKE 3 are offwhite to grey and the typological corpus comprises only open forms. Even if the KSK-RKE 3 seems to fit well in the technological and typological repertoire of the Indian world, no comparative data have been found yet. At Khao Sam Kaeo, the distribution of the <i> KSK-RKE 1, KSK-RKE 2, </i> and <i> KSK-RKE 3 </i> reveals that those ceramics count among the oldest goods with Indian/exogenous typo-technological characteristics. Whether they were made locally with exogenous know-how or whether they were exogenous, those wares testify of very early external influences and led us to trade down the more ancient interaction sphere on which the site was integrated. Those ceramics raise the question of the pivotal role played by the Peninsular Thailand in receiving Indian goods during the early period of exchange, and their subsequent diffusion at a macro-regional scale.
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