Posted on 08/25/2006 8:08:21 PM PDT by JimSEA
Some of the skulls are ovoid, others are more like wedge-shaped. The eye sockets are rather narrow, almost rectangular; and anthropologists think the nose was probably quite flat with wide nostrils. Of medium height for an average contemporary Asian, the men are thought to have been slightly taller than the women. From today's perspective, the people who roamed what is now Thailand thousands of years ago may not have been particularly handsome - but interpretation of their appearance, and the ramifications for archaeology, could be very striking indeed.
Comparing the skeletons could unravel some of the myths, and settle some of the debates, about the origins of the T(h)ai people. Are we really descendants of the Chinese, migrants from the Altai mountains in southern Siberia, as we have repeatedly been taught in school? Or have we always lived in this region, as a few scholars have subsequently argued?
These and other questions were raised recently at a gathering on "Tracing the Human Race: The Study of Physical Anthropology in Thailand". No definitive conclusions were reached at the conference but some of the suggestions presented there could turn widely held beliefs upside down.
Supaporn Nakabanlang from Chiang Mai University compared 307 skulls belonging to people who lived in Thailand and China in both prehistoric and modern times. Curiously, she found that the features of some "prehistoric" skulls unearthed in Thailand bear more similarities to those of modern-day Chinese than they do to modern-day Thais.
This unexpected result would seem to fit a hypothesis put forward by linguist Paul Benedict that Southeast Asian culture may have influenced the Chinese and not the other way around, as is usually held. It also supported an argument by another scholar that Southeast Asian dental traits (called "sundadonts") might have served as the prototype for the Chinese version ("sinodonts"), Supaporn noted.
Other findings add even more complexity to the jigsaw puzzle.
Archaeologist Prapis Pongmas cited a study which found differences between the DNA sequence of prehistoric skeletons found in a Krabi cave and samples from modern Thais. Her own examination of prehistoric skulls from a site in Chon Buri, moreover, revealed the existence of a distinctive feature called "rocker jaw" which is usually associated with Polynesians.
On the other hand, Prapis added, an analysis by Dr Sanjai Sangvichien in 1971 pointed to several clear, compatible similarities between prehistoric and modern skulls in Thailand.
In any case, more data need to be collected, compared and analysed. But the major problem plaguing research into human evolution in Thailand is not a lack of diligence but a dearth of resources, both human and financial - ironic considering the importance of this field of study.
Since a landmark excavation at Ban Kao in Kanchanaburi by a Thai-Danish team in 1960, over a thousand skeletons have been unearthed from more than 40 different sites around the country. But Rasmi Shoocongdej from Silpakorn University pointed out that over the same period fewer than 10 Thai archaeologists have been actively involved in analysing the artefacts dug up at these locations. The majority of archaeological research in this country, she said, has been dominated by Western academics, who enjoy far better funding and more advanced theoretical and technological back-up than their Thai colleagues do.
"Curiously, the Faculty of Archaeology [at Silpa-korn], a key institute for the study of human bones, has absolutely no teaching staff of its own in this area. All classes it gives on human skeletons and anatomy depend on cooperation from the Department of Anatomy at Mahidol's Faculty of Medicine."
On the brighter side, Rasmi continued, a number of archaeologists have become adept at analysing human bones, a skill much in demand by government agencies like the Department of Fine Arts and the Institute of Forensic Science. Dr Sanjai Sangvichien of Mahidol cautioned medical students that if this state of affairs continues they could eventually be surpassed on their own turf - the study of human bones - by archaeology graduates!
Unfortunately, some of those precious bones are themselves at serious risk of deterioration. Rasmi said it was high time that a centre was set up to collect and store them properly. A similar project was once proposed at the Ban Chiang archaeological dig in Udon Thani, but has since been halted due to bureaucratic changes in policy direction.
The establishment of a comprehensive database of human bones and DNA is also of crucial importance - as much to archaeologists as to medical doctors. Excavations at several sites, such as Ban Kao, Ban Chiang and Noan Nok Tha in Khon Kaen, have uncovered traces of anaemia and thalassaemia. Such findings, Rasmi noted, could help us better understand common causes of death in the past, or even now.
"When we have our own database, we'll be able to build up a more and more extensive body of knowledge by applying Western theories and methodology. And one day Thai academics might even be able to develop new approaches or techniques to study human bones by themselves."
Rasmi agrees with Dr Sanjai that any future research must go beyond the boundaries of any single discipline. It should even transcend conventional, and national, boundaries. The study of human origins, she added, has to take into account "universal" themes - like regional migration and prevailing diseases - in order to arrive at a clearer, broader picture of where we actually come from and, perhaps, where we are heading next.
So few men, so much time
The work requires tremendous imagination, patience and skills in a large number of areas. It pays very little, though. And when it comes to recruiting Thai anthropologists to conduct research into human evolution, there have been very few takers indeed.
Those who enter the field usually do so out of sheer love for the subject, often using their own money to fund research - and sometimes risking their good name in the process. At the recent conference here on "Tracing the Human Race", Dr Sanjai Sangvichien shared a story about his late father, a Thai pioneer of physical anthropology, and a bad experience that Dr Sood once had.
Sood taught medical students at Mahidol University and in his free time used to help out with excavations at the prehistoric site of Ban Kao, the very first time such a dig was carried out here using proper scientific methods. He also played a pivotal role in training archaeology students how to analyse the human anatomy, a tradition which has continued to this day.
After the Ban Kao project, Sood branched out, conducting research in other parts of the country. He started a museum - a collection of human and animal bones and other artefacts - which carries his name and is open to the public at Siriraj Hospital.
Later, however, while working at Ban Chiang, location of a Bronze Age village in Udon Thani, Sood witnessed a prominent figure in the government encouraging local people to sell any artefacts they might have unearthed near the site. Sood protested by writing a letter to then-prime minister Thanom Kittikachorn, who later banned any such transactions. However, the aforementioned politician filed a defamation suit against Sood, who, even after his retirement, had to "commute to court every Tuesday" for hearings. He was finally acquitted of the charge, his son said.
Still, Sood's avid interest in research has inspired several students of his to carry on his mission, in particular, two of his assistants at the Siriraj Hospital museum: Vadhana Subhavan and Somsak Pramarnkij. In 1999 the pair uncovered skull fragments at Doi Ta Ka in Lampang. These were later confirmed by Dr Phillip Tobias, an authority on archaeology, as belonging to Homo erectus, the predecessor to modern man; their existence in what is now Thailand being something that Sood had spent all his life trying to prove.
"Creating a cupboard for our skeletons"
I honestly thought this would be a YouTube thread.
"Supaporn Nakabanlang from Chiang Mai University compared 307 skulls belonging to people who lived in Thailand and China in both prehistoric and modern times. Curiously, she found that the features of some "prehistoric" skulls unearthed in Thailand bear more similarities to those of modern-day Chinese than they do to modern-day Thais."
This is interesting info and also the 'rocker jaw.'
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