Ref ID:	36772
Ref Type:	Journal Article
Authors:	Higham, Thomas F. G. Weiss, Andrew D. Higham, Charles F. W. Ramsey, Christopher Bronk Guedes, Jade d'Alpoim Hanson, Sydney Weber, Steven A. Rispoli, Fiorella Ciarla, Roberto Pryce, Thomas O. Pigott, Vincent C.
Title:	A prehistoric copper-production centre in central Thailand: its dating and wider implications
Date:	2020
Source:	Antiquity
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.120
Abstract:	The Khao Wong Prachan Valley of central Thailand is one of four known prehistoric loci of copper mining, smelting and casting in Southeast Asia. Many radiocar- bon determinations from bronze-consumption sites in north-east Thailand date the earliest copper-base metallurgy there in the late second millennium BC. By applying kernel density estimation analysis to approximately 100 new AMS radiocarbon dates, the authors conclude that the valley’s first Neolithic millet farmers had settled there by c. 2000 BC, and initial copper mining and rudimentary smelting began in the late second millennium BC. This overlaps with the established dates for Southeast Asian metal-con- sumption sites, and provides an important new insight into the development of metallurgy in central Thai- land and beyond.
Volume:	94
Number:	376
Page Start:	948
Page End:	965