The Southeast Asian water frontier: coastal trade and mid-fifteenth c. CE “hill tribe” burials, southeastern Cambodia

Isotopic insights into the jar-and-coffin mortuary ritual of the Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia

“…Most of the ceramic vessels selected for use as burial jars at these highland sites are consistent with those from the production complexes of Maenam Noi in Singburi Province, Thailand (Cort 2017). An exception to the use of Maenam Noi jars is found in the presence of brown glazed ceramic 'Angkorian-style' jars in each site in the Cardamom Mountains, which were produced at Angkorian-period kilns, such as Torp Chey (Hendrickson 2008;Grave et al 2019). Given the use of the Torp Chey-type jars at these highland sites beyond the fourteenth century, Grave et al (2019: 5023 & 5033) suggest that they may be heirlooms.…”

“…We also consider the relevance of residential mobility within the Cardamom region in the context of trade practices. Recent geochemical analyses comparing Cardamom burial ceramics and contemporaneous Gulf of Thailand shipwreck ceramics (Grave et al 2019) suggest that the exotic ceramics found in the Cardamom burial sites originated from the Maenam Noi and Si Satchanili production centres in central and northern Thailand. Thus, the imported grave goods in the Cardamom sites, such as the Maenam Noi jars and the Si Satchanili dishes, are linked to the contemporaneous Ayutthaya maritime trade system in the Gulf of Thailand (Grave et al 2019).…”

“…The absence of stratigraphic contexts for these exposed mortuary vessels, and the general paucity of associated occupation deposits, has, until recently, limited our understanding. New studies, however, are improving our knowledge of the geographic extent and duration of the jar/coffin mortuary ritual (Beavan et al 2012(Beavan et al , 2015, the cultural practices and health of the individuals interred in the burial containers (Halcrow et al 2014), and the mercantile activity of these communities, as evidenced from trade-sourced grave goods such as metal rings, glass beads and ceramics (Carter et al 2016;Grave et al 2019).…”

“…An exception to the use of Maenam Noi jars is found in the presence of brown glazed ceramic ‘Angkorian-style’ jars in each site in the Cardamom Mountains, which were produced at Angkorian-period kilns, such as Torp Chey (Hendrickson 2008; Grave et al . 2019). Given the use of the Torp Chey-type jars at these highland sites beyond the fourteenth century, Grave et al .…”

“…Given the use of the Torp Chey-type jars at these highland sites beyond the fourteenth century, Grave et al . (2019: 5023 & 5033) suggest that they may be heirlooms. Completing the suite of ceramics found at every site were thirteenth- to fourteenth-century AD Si Satchanalai-type bowls and small jars, and locally produced earthenware vessels (Beavan et al 2012, 2015).…”