ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL UNPREDICTABILITY: INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE AND REGIONAL EXCHANGE AT LATE PREHISTORIC CENTERS IN THE PHIMAI REGION, THAILAND.

摘要

Archaeological research was undertaken to investigate the development of fortified or moated sites as centers during the late prehistoric and early historic periods (ca. 600 B.C.-A.D. 1300) in the Phimai region of northeast Thailand. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) The concentration of population into the fortified towns was associated with the intensification of wet rice agriculture, and (2) The fortified towns were centers for long distance exchange of goods.;Population pressure is unlikely to have been a primary cause of intensification, and population concentration may have been a factor at only a few sites. Non-intensive cultivation of flood rice could have produced sufficient rice to feed the estimated late prehistoric populations. An alternative model is proposed in which agricultural intensification was undertaken as an adaptive response to the unpredictability of the regional environment. Relatively simple intensive techniques would have provided sufficient rice and greatly reduced the risk of crop failure. Regional exchange provided an additional buffer against environmental uncertainties. Social stratification and urbanization may have developed through the abilities of leaders to mobilize labor, control exchange, and monitor and regulate production.;Investigation of the condition, spatial relationships, function, and dating of the moated sites involved field survey, excavation at two sites, Ban Tamyae and Non Ban Kham, and examination of aerial photographs, identifying 334 potential sites in the Phimai region. Moated sites were classified into two types: (1) fortified sites, with defensive earthworks, and (2) ponded sites, with earthworks primarily for water retention. Large sites, including Phimai, may have served as local or regional centers. For the late prehistoric period the rather limited evidence of intensive agriculture included the presence of probable traction stress marks on a water buffalo phalanx and the location of most sites in proximity to land suitable for wet rice. Except for trade in bronze metals, evidence of long distance trade is also slight, but regional exchange, evidenced by the distribution of Phimai black pottery, iron, and fine-grained stone, was of greater importance.