The archaeological finds that sparked the rush were the remains of the most important prehistoric settlements yet found in Asia.
(The site is open Wed-Sun 0830-1700.) ฿20. Buses run direct to the village from the bus stand opposite the Thai-Isaan market on Udon Dutsadee Rd every hour from 0600, though the last one back leaves Ban Chiang at 1400. Alternatively, take a bus going along Route 22 to Sakhon Nakhon and ask to be let off at Ban Chiang (just after the Km 50 marker). Tuk-tuk drivers hang around the junction to take visitors to the site.
Ban Chiang, one of the most important archaeological sites to be uncovered in Southeast Asia since the Second World War, was accidentally discovered by an American anthropology student, Stephen Young, in 1966. While walking in the village he fell over the root of a kapok tree and noticed dozens of pieces of broken ancient pottery protruding from the ground. Appreciating that his find might be significant, he sent the pottery pieces for analysis to the Fine Arts Department in Bangkok and then later to the University of Pennsylvania. Rumours of his finds spread and much of the area was then ransacked by the villagers, who sold the pieces they unearthed to collectors in Bangkok and abroad. Organized excavations only really commenced during the 1970s, when a Thai archaeologist, Pisit Charoenwongsa and an American, Chester Gorman, arrived to investigate the site. Even though their task was compromised by the random digging of villagers, they still managed to unearth 18 tonnes of material in two years, including 5000 bags of sherds and 123 burials. The site spans a time period of over 5000 years. Perhaps the greatest discovery is the bronzeware, which has been dated to 3600 BC, thus pre-dating bronzeware found in the Middle East by 500 years. This shattered the belief that bronze metallurgy had developed in the Tigris and Euphrates basin about 3000 BC, and from there diffused to other parts of the world. The finds also indicated to archaeologists that bronze technology may well have gone from Thailand to China instead of vice versa as the oldest known Chinese bronzes only go back to 2000 BC. The site at Ban Chiang also provides evidence of an early development of agriculture.
Little is known of the agricultural society which inhabited the site and which produced the beautiful pots of burnt ochre ‘swirl’ design, sophisticated metalwork and jewellery. There are two burial pits at Wat Pho Si Nai, on the edge of the village of Ban Chiang. At the other side of the village is an excellent museum where the Ban Chiang story is retold with clarity, exceptional displays and many of the finds.
To cash in on the visitors to the site, the villagers of Ban Chiang, prevented from selling any artefacts openly, instead market a range of their handicrafts in shops around the museum....
