An adze to grind : lithic resource procurement and reduction of ground stone adzes from Ban Non Wat, Northeast Thailand

Abstract

Trade contributed to the formation of complex states in Southeast Asia during the historic period (1st millennium AD). It is thought that the antecedents of trade developed from prehistoric exchange networks starting in the Neolithic (2nd-3 rd millennium BC). The extent of such prehistoric networks is not clear, however, ground stone adzes have been identified as goods that were exchanged. The aim of this thesis is to examine the procurement of lithic resources at Ban Non Wat, northeast Thailand and to determine whether adzes were part of an exchange network. This thesis emphasises the relationships between procurement, reduction and the form of ground stone adzes recovered predominantly from Neolithic and Bronze Age contexts. Previous analyses in Thailand have suggested that adzes were exchanged in the Neolithic as part of a pan-regional network, but further examination is required to support this. The results from Ban Non Wat indicate that the exchange of ground stone adzes was not as common as some scholars have proposed. The detailed examination of adze reduction in this study demonstrates that use of traditional Southeast Asian adze typologies, severely limits the analysis of adze assemblages. This thesis has developed systemic models of direct access and exchange to address the question of lithic resource procurement. Significantly, these systemic models provide a methodological and theoretical framework which allows systems of adze procurement to be identified within a singlesite consumption context. This framework does not rely on distributional data from numerous sites, as has been the case for many studies of exchange. Often single-site studies of lithic resource procurement have relied on the analysis of quarries. However, this study is exceptional because it deals with a consumption/occupation context. The results show that the majority of adzes at Ban Non Wat were acquired through a direct access system of procurement and that a secondary source of cobbles was exploited. The systemic models of lithic resource procurement were successful in identifying lithic resource procurement at Ban Non Wat, and could be applied to similar assemblages in other parts of the world.