Kok Charoen
Neolithic (c.1500–1000 BCE, late)·🇹🇭 Lopburi Province, Khao Wong Prachan Valley fringe, Chai Badan District, Thailand
About
About Kok Charoen
Late Neolithic slope village on Khao Wong Prachan fringe, Chai Badan District, Lopburi, 100 m elevation above valley floor, excavated 1980s by C.M. Ho. One-hectare mound yields cord-marked pottery and stone adzes marking forest clearance and rice frontier expanding towards Non Pa Wai copper zone, linking Hoabinhian–Neolithic transition to upland Lopburi agropastoral opening.
Why it mattersLate Neolithic slope village marking forest clearance frontier towards copper valley
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Forest clearance for rice or millet — phytolith evidence gap?
- 02Neolithic vs copper zone contemporaneity
Theories
- 01Khao Wong fringe settlement model: Neolithic clearance preceding copper mining
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.1500 BCE
- Period
- Neolithic (c.1500–1000 BCE, late)
- Builders
- Late Neolithic farmers on valley fringe
- Purpose
- Khao Wong fringe village showing forest clearance to rice frontier
- Abandoned
- c.1000 BCE
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1500 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1261 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
15.2000° N · 101.0800° E · 100 m · 2 mapped features
Slope mound habitation
settlementCord-marked pottery midden on slope terrace
15.2003° N · 101.0803° EForest clearance horizon
settlementCharcoal and adze horizon marking deforestation event
15.1997° N · 101.0797° E