Non Nok Tha (Phu Wiang)
Non Nok Tha Prehistoric Cemetery · Phu Wiang Non Nok Tha
Neolithic 1500–1000 → Bronze Age 1000–400 → Iron Age 400 BCE–200 CE·Isan Khorat Plateau (Neolithic → Bronze → Iron)·🇹🇭 Khon Kaen Province, Phu Wiang District, Non Nok Tha low mound 500 m south of Ban Na Di village, 90 km west of Khon Kaen city (Khorat Plateau western edge), Thailand
About
About Non Nok Tha (Phu Wiang)
Non Nok Tha — Isan Neolithic–Iron Age cemetery village (1500 BCE–200 CE, 300 burials) 90 km west Khon Kaen, Phu Wiang district, excavated 1966–68 Bayard (Otago) and Solheim. Non Nok Tha low mound south Ban Na Di with 300+ burials (extended, flexed) in 5 phases: Early Neolithic with cord-marked ware, Bronze Age with bronze, Iron Age with iron, agate, bronze drums. Type-site for Isan Khorat Plateau early bronze (thinning ware, infant jar burials). Associated with Ban Chiang contemp-rare. Defines Khorat Bronze–Iron transition.
Why it mattersOnly Khorat Plateau 300-burial sequence — type-site for Isan Bronze–Iron transition with infant jar burials
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Bronze source — local Isan copper or imported?
Theories
- 01Non Nok Tha as Isan Bronze via Ban Chiang diffusion
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 Neolithic cemetery village founded
- Period
- Neolithic 1500–1000 → Bronze Age 1000–400 → Iron Age 400 BCE–200 CE
- Culture
- Isan Khorat Plateau (Neolithic → Bronze → Iron)
- Builders
- Isan Mun–Chi valley farmers (Non Nok Tha villagers)
- Purpose
- Khorat Plateau prehistoric cemetery-village documenting Neolithic→Bronze→Iron with 300 burials
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.1500 BCE
Neolithic flexed burials with cord-marked ware
c.1000–400 BCE
Bronze Age burials with bronze
c.400 BCE–200 CE
Iron Age with agate, glass, iron
1966–68
Bayard excavations reveal 300 burials; 1970s Solheim bronze study
On the ground
Structures & features
16.8400° N · 102.3200° E · 200 m · 2 mapped features
Northern Burial Cluster with Bronze Age Graves
cemetery150 burials north with bronze tools and shell beads, flexed north
16.8410° N · 102.3192° ESouthern Iron Age Infant Jar Burial Area
cemeterySouthern iron-age infant jar burials with agate and iron south
16.8385° N · 102.3211° E