Ref ID:	37278
Ref Type:	Conference Proceeding
Editors:	Grave, Peter Kealhofer, Lisa Beavan, N. Sohka, Tep Stark, Miriam Darith, Ea
Title:	Maritime means and mountain ends: the origin of stoneware jars in mid 15th CE burial complexes of he Southern Cardamom Ranges, Cambodia
Source:	Underwater Cultural Heritage
Abstract:	Southeast Asia during the first half of the second millennium CE. Their hegemony is particularly apparent in lowland areas throughout the Lower Mekong basin, expressed in both architecture and ceramics. How strongly this control was exercised in more geographically marginal regions – and what the nature of power was after the capital moved southward -- has not been explored. In this paper we present the results of a geochemical analysis of ceramics from absolutely and comprehensively dated mid-15th century CE burial complexes in the Southern Cardamom Ranges of southeastern Cambodia and a nearby 236 contemporary shipwreck. The wreck assemblage was typical of a Southeast Asian maritime trader. Comparison of burial and shipwreck ceramic compositional data enables us to confirm a provenance for some of the jars and fine wares from production centres in central Northern Thailand. A second group, not represented in the wreck assemblage, is from an as yet unidentified source that we suggest is located in the adjacent Cambodian lowlands. The results of this provenience analysis highlights both the role of the relatively well known maritime trade, as well as a previously unsuspected continuity in local Cambodian stoneware production. This window into 15th c exchange networks expands our understanding of the context of subsequent European 16th-17th c engagement during the Early Modern Period, is one piece of the broader picture needed to more closely define the processes of economic transformation.
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