The Archaeology of Production: Prehistoric Copper Metallurgy in Central Thailand

生产考古：泰国中部史前铜冶炼

• 批准号: 8922153
• 负责人: Vincent Pigott
• 金额: $ 18.07万
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1990
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1990-02-01 至 1996-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8922153&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Archaeology; Production; Prehistoric; Copper; Metallurgy

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Vincent Pigott and his colleagues will conduct three seasons of archaeological excavation at sites in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley in central Thailand. Preliminary work by Dr. Pigott and his Thai collaborator in this valley has shown that it contains an unusual group of culturally and technologically related copper production and habitation sites ranging in date from the mid-third millennium B.C. to the early first millennium A.D. Among the largest prehistoric metal production sites known in Asia, they offer a unique opportunity to study the technology and organization of large-scale copper production -- as a continuum from mine to finished product -- within its sociocultural context. During each year of the project one site will be excavated. The data thus collected will permit the team to establish a relative chronology which will then be fixed with radiocarbon dates. They will also allow explication of the local settlement pattern as it developed over time. Finally, excavation and laboratory analysis will permit reconstruction of the local processes of copper production. This will be achieved in part through metallurgical analysis and process replication in the laboratory. The central Thailand sites are of archaeological interest because they are so unusual. Over the last two decades considerable scholarly attention has focussed on the origins and development of metallurgy across the Old World. This has indicated that the introduction of bronze metallurgy is associated with a complex of social, political, and economic developments which mark the rise of the state. In Southeast Asia, however, the sociocultural context in which early copper and bronze metallurgy developed does not appear to include evidence for urban centers or a state- like political structure. It is in this light that Dr. Pigott's research assumes its primary significance. This research is important for several reasons. First, it will provide information on the interaction between technology and the development of social complexity. It challenges traditional ideas about the association between these variables. Secondly, it will increase our knowledge about a part of the world which, from an archaeological perspective, is relatively unknown.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，文森特博士 皮戈特和他的同事们将进行三个赛季的 Khao Wong Prachan遗址的考古发掘 泰国中部的山谷。 Pigott博士的初步工作， 他在这个山谷的泰国合作者已经证明， 一群在文化和技术上有联系的铜 生产和居住地点的日期从 公元前3000年中期到公元1000年早期。 在已知的最大的史前金属生产地点之一， 亚洲，他们提供了一个独特的机会， 和组织大规模铜生产--作为一个 从矿山到成品的连续统一体--在其 社会文化背景。 在项目的每一年， 将被挖掘。 这样收集的数据将使小组能够 建立一个相对的年表，然后将固定与 放射性碳年代测定 他们还将允许解释当地的 随着时间的推移，它逐渐形成了一种定居模式。 最后， 挖掘和实验室分析将允许重建 当地的铜生产工艺。 完成这项工作的方法是 部分通过冶金分析和工艺复制， 实验室 泰国中部的遗址具有考古价值，因为 他们是如此的与众不同。 在过去的二十年里， 学术界的注意力集中在起源和发展 在旧世界的冶金学 这表明， 青铜冶金学的引入与复杂的 社会、政治和经济的发展标志着 州政府。 然而，在东南亚， 早期铜和青铜冶金学发展的背景 似乎不包括城市中心或州的证据- 比如政治结构。 正是在这种情况下，皮戈特博士 研究具有重要意义。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。 一是 提供关于技术与环境之间相互作用的信息， 社会复杂性的发展。 挑战传统 这些变量之间的联系。 第二、 它将增加我们对世界一部分的了解， 从考古学的角度来看，这是相对未知的。