Influence of fluvial landscape change on ancient settlements along Nan River, Northern Thailand

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Previous studies have highlighted the importance of natural environmental conditions on the development of ancient societies. Besides prominent natural disasters, adaptation of societal and economics strategies might even origin from subtle and less dramatic changes such as natural river dynamics. However, the individual impact and its spatial and temporal dimensions need to be investigated in each particular region. The aim of this project is to enlighten the interaction between fluvial dynamics and the response of local societies in the area of the Nan River system, northern Thailand. Our hypothesis is that the natural dynamics of the Nan River had a major effect on the settlement strategies in the region. In the meandering fluvial landscape, the channels of the Nan River shifted towards and away from settlements, which led to problems with either flooding or the cut-off from water supply and the most important transport paths. The approach of this study is to use remote sensing in combination with fieldwork to decipher past configurations of the river network. Once suitable locations have been identified, fluvial sediments will be sampled in natural outcrops, hand-excavated ditches, and in drill-cores. Sediment taken from the exposures will be used to characterise and date with the aim to reconstruct the geometry of the river network at different times. These reconstructions will be cross-checked with ancient documents for deciphering the likely interaction between natural river dynamics and human response. Due to the wealth of written documents and archaeological sites, we will concentrate on the Lanna and Sukhothai periods (800-200 years ago).