RECENT PHD AND MA THESES

3. DOUGALD O'REILLY 2000. A Diachronic Examination of Social Organisation in the Mun River Valley, Thailand. PhD Thesis, University of Otago.

Abstract: The thesis examines the development of social complexity in Northeast Thailand with reference to two sites, Ban Lum Khao and Non Muang Kao. These sites, occupied during the Bronze and Iron Ages respectively, were excavated in the hope that they would provide some insight into the hitherto uninvestigated area of prehistoric social development in the Mun River basin.

Using the mortuary remains from Ban Lum Khao it has been possible to draw inferences regarding the socio-political environment during the Bronze Age. The evidence from Non Muang Kao, while not as plentiful, indicates that dramatic social changes took place in the region from c. 1000-500 BC.

A significant portion of the thesis is dedicated to anthropological and archaeological theory, pertaining to social organisation. An overview of the present state of archaeological research in the Mun River valley is followed by a description of the excavations atBan Lum Khao and Non Muang Kao. Succeeding chapters are dedicated to the analysis of the archaeological remains, including the presentation of a ceramic categorisation. The data from Ban Lum Khao are subjected to statistical analysis in an attempt to identify possible differences in mortuary practice which may be indicative of the social structure. The evidence from Ban Lum Khao seems to indicate that no entrenched hierarchical system existed during the time the cemetery was in use. The material from Non Muang Kao and other contemporaneous Iron Agesites, however, suggests that such systems developed in subsequent periods. The thesis concludes with an overview of traditional models of social organisation as they pertain to the evidence from Northeast Thailand with a recommendation that the heterarchical model be embraced. It is felt that this paradigm best explains the available data.