| Abstract: |
Introduction: The typological, technological, and chemical analysis of copper-base artefacts has proven to be of great utility for tracing exchange networks and interaction spheres throughout late prehistoric continental and maritime Southeast Asia (e.g. Pryce et al., 2014
Hirao and Ro, 203). Given the many similarities Khao Sek shares with Khao Sam Kaeo in terms of topography, organisation and material culture, we anticipated that the former would furnish a heterogeneous assemblage representing the regions numerous contacts. In this paper we will show this to be the case, and that Khao Seks metallurgical assemblage complements current reconstructions of the Upper Thai-Malay Peninsulas Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea interactions spheres (Pryce et al., 2015
Pryce et al., 2014
Murillo-Barroso et al., 2010). The analysis of copper-base artefacts also contributes to defining the political and economic organization of the early trading-polities that emerged during the first millennium B.C.
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