Ban Chiang Archaeological Site

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NHK World Heritage 100 Series

Narration Text

In 1966, a student found shards of pottery protruding from the ground quite by accident.

Ban Chiang in North-east Thailand suddenly began to get worldwide attention.

Major excavations were conducted in the 1970s and after several examinations it was believed that the remains of this settlement could date back to 3500 B.C. Some ceramics were decorated with images of plants and animals. The patterns show that people of that time already farmed rice and had domesticated animals. The pottery was printed with rope patterns. No influences from China or India are seen in Ban Chiang earthenware.

The white crystals on the ground are salt released from the soil during the dry season. The region has mainly red laterite soil high in salt content. It is believed that the prosperity of the civilization in this region owes much to its salt production. Scraped crystals are mixed with water and left to settle for half a day. Then a small hole is made in the bottom to extract salt water. The water drains through a tiny hole. The process takes about 3 hours. The water is then boiled down for 4 hours. It is a slow process which has not changed since ancient times. Finally the salt is extracted. A half metal drum produces around 5 kg of salt. Salt was more precious than rice in ancient times. People exchanged salt for many other items which brought prosperity to the local people.

Ban Chiang villagers still use the old method of making clay pots. They walk around the pot to shape it instead of using a pottery wheel. The pots are fired unglazed. Moistened straw is placed on top to lower the temperature while firing. These pots have been made just as they were thousands of years ago. The mysterious Ban Chiang civilization was discovered by chance, however the whole picture is not yet completely known.

More history is still lying deep underground waiting to be revealed.