A tour of the (mostly) Iron Age archaeology site Non Ban Jak, NE Thailand

This is a short guided tour of the archaeological site of Non Ban Jak; presented by Nigel Chang of James Cook University. The aim is to show the geographic & environmental context of the site and the areas that have been excavated in the past. The video mixes a post-excavation tour of the site with images and video captured during some of the excavation seasons. Non Ban Jak is an important site in NE Thailand excavated over several seasons by teams from the Australian National University the University of Otago (NZ), the Thai Fine Arts Department and Kasetsart University (Thailand), among others. Some seasons of excavation were run by James Cook University (Australia) teams. The site is famous as it allows us to follow the transition from prehistory (the time before writing in this part of SE Asia) into the early proto-historic & historic periods as the Dvaravati culture began to spread from Central Thailand into the Northeast. Shortly afterwards, the area became incorporated in the growing Angkorian Empire, with its centre in what is now NW Cambodia. Charles Higham and Rachanie Thosarat were the main drivers behind all the work at Non Ban Jak (as they have been on many other previous projects) and daily progress at the site relied heavily on expert excavators from Ban Non Wat and the local team from Ban Nong Khrua Chuut. Many other archaeologists and specialists were involved (and continue to be involved) in the fieldwork and ongoing analysis. The 2014 excavation season (directed by James Cook University) was supported by the Earthwatch Institute and its corp of loyal volunteers. Thank you for your support in this and many other archaeological adventures in Thailand!

[@edwarddixon2693]

Love the video Nigel. Good to have the excavation areas in context.