Ethnoarchaeological Study on Iron and Salt in Thailand

NITTA在1994和1995两个财政年度对泰国的传统炼铁和制盐活动进行了实地调查。对它们的民族考古研究对史前考古和社会学研究非常有用。泰国有三种制盐方法。盐井法和盐水井法是传统的两种方法。泰国东北部的许多省份都采用盐田法。盐场法分为坑槽法和主槽法两组。班顿仁是实行坑槽法的村子之一。这种方法与尼塔出土的那库伦拉查西马省非童别邦考古制盐遗址的方法相同。许多传统的制盐活动都受到森林砍伐和年轻劳工短缺造成的薪材短缺的影响。随着环境和社会的变化，延续了1700多年的传统制盐活动正在消失。乌塔拉迪特省班南菲保留了传统的炼铁。只有一位老人保留了传统的炼铁和制剑技术。除了制盐，炼铁也面临着铁原料短缺的问题。政府禁止在村子附近收集铁矿石，沙铁消失了。村子附近的老炼铁场收集的铁渣是唯一炼铁的材料。由于森林砍伐，人们也很难收集木材来烧炭。炼铁炉和炼铁方法比预期的要简单。1990年在布里拉姆省班东坪出土的熔炉与班南菲的熔炉相似。这里生产的铁被用来制造大城府式的传统剑。炼铁和制盐这两项传统技术现在正随着泰国环境和现代经济社会的变化而消失。(300字)

Nitta made field researches of traditional iron-smelting and salt-making activities in Thailand during two fiscal years of 1994 and 1995. Ethnoarchaeological studies on them are very useful for prehistoric archaeological and sociological studies.There are three methods of salt-making in Thailand. Solt-field method and salty-water-well method are traditional ones. Salt-field method is carried in many provinces in northeast Thailand. Salt-field method is divided into two groups, pit-trough method and trunk-trough method. Ban Don Reng is one of the villages which runs pit-trough method. This method is as same as that of the archaeological salt-making site at Non Tung Pie Pong, Nakorn Ratchasima province excavated by Nitta. Many of traditional salt-making activities are suffering from the shortage of fuel wood caused by the deforestation and the shortage of young laborers. The traditional salt-making activities which have been carried for 1700 years or more are disappearing by the environmental and social change.Traditional iron-smelting is preserved at Ban Nam Phee, Uttaradit Province. Only one old man preserves the traditional iron-smelting and sword-making technologies. As well as the salt-making, the iron-smelting is also suffering from the shortage of iron material. The government prohibits to collect iron ore near the village, and sand iron disappeared. Iron slag collected at the old iron-smelting sites near the village is the only material to smelt iron. It is also very difficult to collect wood to bake charcoal caused by the deforestation. The iron-smelting furnace and the method to smelt iron are simpler than expected. The furnaces excavated at Ban Dong Plong in Buriram Province in 1990 resembles to that of Ban Nam Phee. The iron produced here is used to make a traditional sword of Ayuttaya style.Two traditional technologies, iron-smelting and salt-making, are now disappearing by the environmental and modern economic and social change in Thailand. (300 words)