Abstract:
This research examines the sedimentological evidence of human occupation on different
cultural layers at the prehistoric archaeological sites in northeast Thailand. This study focuses on
the sedimentological characters of stratigraphic layers identified at the prehistoric occupation sites
of Ban Non Wat and Nong Hua Raet, to demonstrate the capacity of such analyses to elucidate the
modification of sediments by past anthropogenic activity, and eventually to contribute to an enhanced
understanding of the behaviour of ancient people. The primary intention of this paper is, therefore,
to point out potential uses of particle analysis in identifying human–landscape interventions, testing
whether meaningful differentiation is possible, and if not, whether this may nevertheless be used
to understand the sedimentological relationships between different features. The study finds that
although there is relatively little differentiation between sediments across the archaeological site,
some insight is possible in identifying relationships between the natural sediments of the floodplain,
the channels associated with the archaeological sites, and the archaeological sediments themselves.
It is, for example, now possible to raise new questions regarding the construction history of the sites,
the history of human behaviour at these sites, socio-spatial relationships between paleo-social activity
and natural resources, and fine-scale landscape associations between sites
