Ban Non Wat Neolithic and Bronze Age sequence

Record summary

Excavations at Ban Non Wat produced a substantial sequence of Neolithic, Bronze Age and later burials and settlement deposits in Thailand’s Upper Mun Valley. The site matters for comparing mortuary practice, rice agriculture, metallurgy, diet and social differentiation across mainland Southeast Asia. Its large cemetery also offers a chronological framework for testing claims about abrupt migration or local development. Interpretation is limited by complex stratigraphy, changing burial practices, regional comparison problems and ongoing debate about how bronze technology and social ranking developed in the region.