Beads, Exchange Networks and Emerging Complexity: A Case Study from Cambodia and Thailand (500 BCE–CE 500)
| dc.contributor.author | Carter, Alison Kyra | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-11-09T22:20:33Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-11-09T22:20:33Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2015-10-15 | |
| dc.description | 25 pages | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Control over the exchange of prestige goods is an important component of emerging socio-political complexity in many ancient societies. During the Iron Age period (500 BCE–CE 500), communities in mainland Southeast Asia were undergoing rapid socio-political changes, due in part to new interactions with societies from South Asia. As objects made from exotic raw materials and using complex technologies, stone and glass beads are one type of prestige object from South Asia that were exchanged widely across Southeast Asia. This study examines beads from 12 sites in Cambodia and Thailand. Morphological and compositional analyses using LA-ICP-MS resulted in the identification of different bead types that were circulated in distinct exchange networks. Initially, beads were exchanged within a pre-existing South China Sea network. However, as trade with South Asia intensified in the late Iron Age, exchange networks in Southeast Asia expanded, with an increase in the quantities of beads circulated. These results show the utility of studying beads as a means of examining trade and emerging socio-political complexity. Lastly, in considering evidence for control over the exchange of beads, I propose looking to an emerging state in the Mekong Delta. | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | I wish to acknowledge the governments of Cambodia and Thailand for their permission to examine and analyse these beads and especially the Apsara Authority, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Cambodia, the National Research Council of Thailand and the Fine Arts Department of Thailand. Thanks also to Drs Berenice Bellina, Charles Higham, Thanik Lertcharnrit, Dougald O’Reilly, Christophe Pottier, Andreas Reinecke, Miriam Stark, Pheng Sytha, Rachanie Thosarat, as well as Heng Sophady, Phon Kaseka, Seng Sonetra, Tep Sokha, Vin Laychour, Voeun Vuthy, the Ecole francaise d’Extreme-Orient and the Suthiratana Foundation for access and assistance with the bead collections studied in this research. Compositional analysis was undertaken at the Elemental Analysis Facility at the Field Museum, managed by Dr Laure Dussubieux. Funding for portions of this project was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Grants in East and Southeast Asian Archaeology and Early History Dissertation Fellowship, Fulbright IIE, The Center for Khmer Studies, the Bead Society of Los Angeles, the Portland Bead Society, the Bead Study Trust, Graduate Women in Science–Beta Chapter, Geological Society of America and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Thanks also to Drs Charles Higham and Kurt Gron, Paul Madavi and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Carter, A. (2015). Beads, Exchange Networks and Emerging Complexity: A Case Study from Cambodia and Thailand (500 bce–ce 500). Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 25(4), 733-757. doi:10.1017/S0959774315000207 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | doi:10.1017/S0959774315000207 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.orcid | 0000-0001-6331-2149 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/beads-exchange-networks-and-emerging-complexity-a-case-study-from-cambodia-and-thailand-500-bcece-500/E777744DC695A46A6FF2540969D6BDA7 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/27798 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Cambridge University Press | en_US |
| dc.rights | Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US | en_US |
| dc.title | Beads, Exchange Networks and Emerging Complexity: A Case Study from Cambodia and Thailand (500 BCE–CE 500) | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |