Ban Non Wat (Mun Valley)
Ban Non Wat Moated Site · Mun Valley Ban Non Wat
Neolithic 1750–1000 → Bronze Age 1000–400 → Iron Age 400 BCE–500 CE·Mun Valley Neolithic → Ban Chiang Bronze → Iron Age (Isan)·🇹🇭 Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Non Sung District, Ban Non Wat village on Mun River floodplain 50 km NE of Nakhon Ratchasima (Phimai plateau), Thailand
About
About Ban Non Wat (Mun Valley)
Ban Non Wat — 5000-year moated farming village (1750 BCE–500 CE, Neolithic→Iron Age) 50 km NE Nakhon Ratchasima, Mun floodplain, excavated 2002–12 Higham and Higham (Otago). Ban Non Wat is Mun Valley type-site: 640 m diameter moat and bank, double moat Late Iron Age, 12 ha village with Neolithic flexed burials (1250 BCE with pottery), Bronze Age (1000–400 BCE with bronze, shell bangles), Iron Age (400 BCE–500 CE with iron, agate, glass), and rice. Higham Oxford radiocarbon proves earliest Bronze Age in Thailand.
Why it mattersLongest moated village sequence in Isan — 1750 BCE Neolithic to Iron Age with bronze→iron metallurgy
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why double moat Late Iron Age — defence or pond?
Theories
- 01Mounded moats as Khorat water management (Higham)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1750 BCE Neolithic moated village; Bronze Age 1000–400 BCE
- Period
- Neolithic 1750–1000 → Bronze Age 1000–400 → Iron Age 400 BCE–500 CE
- Culture
- Mun Valley Neolithic → Ban Chiang Bronze → Iron Age (Isan)
- Builders
- Mun Valley rice farmers (Ban Non Wat villagers)
- Purpose
- Moated rice-farming village documenting 2000-year Neolithic→Bronze→Iron continuity on Khorat Plateau
- Excavation
- Excavated
1750–1000 BCE
Neolithic flexed burials with pottery
1000–400 BCE
Bronze Age burials with shell bangles
400 BCE–500 CE
Iron Age with agate, glass; double moat
2002–12
Higham Otago excavations
On the ground
Structures & features
15.2744° N · 102.2689° E · 180 m · 2 mapped features
Outer Moat and Bronze Age Cemetery Area
earthwork640-m outer moat with Bronze Age flexed burials east
15.2754° N · 102.2681° EInner Moat and Iron Age Habitation
settlementInner moat 300 m dia with Iron Age houses and agate workshop centre
15.2729° N · 102.2700° E
Gallery