Social responses to climate change in Iron Age north-east Thailand: new archaeobotanical evidence

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Castillo, Cristina C.;Higham, Charles;Miller, Katie;Chang, Nigel;Douka, Katerina;Higham, Tom;Fuller, Dorian
Nigel Chang
Abstract

New evidence from archaeological investigations in north-east Thailand shows a transition in rice farming towards wetland cultivation that would have facilitated greater yields and surpluses. This evidence, combined with new dates and palaeoclimatic data, suggests that this transition took place in the Iron Age, at a time of increasingly arid climate, and when a number of broader societal changes become apparent in the archaeological record. For the first time, it is possible to relate changes in subsistence economy to shifts in regional climate and water-management strategies, and to the emergence of state societies in Southeast Asia.

Journal

Antiquity

Publication Name

Antiquity

Volume

92

ISBN/ISSN

1745-1744

Edition

N/A

Issue

365

Pages Count

18

Location

N/A

Publisher

Antiquity Publications

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

N/A

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.15184/aqy.2018.198