Khok Phanom Di is a prehistoric site located in Central Thailand. An
excavation there in 1985 removed cultural material from a 10 x 10 meter
square to a depth of almost seven meters. The previous five volumes in
this series have reported on the excavation, the environment, biological
remains, aspects of material culture and the human skeletal material.
The excavation revealed that over a period of half a millennium from
about 2000 B.C., the site was a major ceramic production center. This
volume is the result of over 15 years intensive research on over 12 tons
of ceramics, including the complete pottery vessels found as mortuary
offerings, anvils used to shape pots, cylinders of prepared clay, caches
of sand used as temperring material, and the stands used to support
firing platforms. Hundreds of thin sections have been prepared and
analyzed in order to identify both local and exotic wares, and minute
details of the complex patterns of decoration on the vessels have been
considered. The form of the vessels changed over time, and this,
combined with the identification of the many fabric types, has allowed
Brian Vincent to distinguish four major ceramic periods. These he then
relates to the cultural sequence and a major contribution to
understanding the role played by pottery manufacture and exchange within
the site, and with other communities within its trading orbit. This
volume sets a precedent and a benchmark for the analysis of Southeast
Asian ceramics by the acknowledged leader in this highly specialized and
complex field.
