Sop Kham

Terrain

General Condition

Sop Kham archaeological site is at the slopes of Doi Kham, along the gravel road, which cuts from Chiang Saen town to Sop Ruak village. It is about 2.5 kilometers from Chiang Saen Tai town along the river. It is a long gravel beach parallel to the Mekong River. There is a lot of river sediment deposition.

Height above mean sea level

Waterway

Mekong River

Geological conditions

Geological structure is a complex of rock formations composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks, forming a support for rock formations whose internal structure is not so complex. The enclosed rock clusters are intermittent. and is mainly composed of sedimentary rocks. The survey site has a relatively stable geological structure. is that the earth's crust has stopped violently for a considerable period of time.

Archaeological Era

era/culture

Archaeological age

Types of archaeological sites

archaeological essence

Chiang Saen and surrounding areas from Sop Ruak in the north (Golden Triangle) down to Sop Kok in the south. Distance of approximately 10 kilometers appears prehistoric artifacts of various types of stone tools scattered in a large number of areas. One important area is the archaeological site of Sop Kham. It is a prehistoric archaeological site. At the slopes of Doi Kham, along the gravel road which cuts from Chiang Saen town to Sop Ruak village It is about 2.5 kilometers from the city of Chiang Saen Tai along the river, around the Kham River. Silpakorn University explore in the year 1970-1971 Evidence suggests that prehistoric humans lived between 15,000 and 3,000 years ago, including large and heavy pebble tools. Most of them are sharp scraping and chopping tools (Choppers), some are tools similar to fist axes but only crack one face. Some were proto-handaxes and some were pointed tools for digging food or as weapons (picks). By thin section analysis, riorite was identified. Rhyorite) (Weeraphan Malaiphan, 1982, 35; Pasuk Disayadej and Sayan Praichanchit, Chiang Rai Archeology, 1990, 19-22)

Later, when the excavation was carried out in 1971, the area was opened with a size of 2 x 10 meters at the slopes of Doi Kham, archaeological evidence was found. Can be divided according to the deposition layer as follows:

- The top layer of soil is the layer of soil that has activities of people in history. found fragments of clay pots and porcelain that can be compared to the pottery obtained from the excavation pit in Chiang Saen Determine the age after the 19th Buddhist century

- 2nd soil layer, found common terrazzo tools similar to oval shape but white color, and terrazzo axes with shoulders in the same soil layer as coarse earthenware fragments, rope pattern, hand-formed. Determine the age in the prehistoric Neolithic.

- the lowest soil layer Found a dense cracker stone tool. Most were digging tools, chopping, and single-faced cracking axes. and excavator which is a tool of hunting society It corresponds to the old stone age and the middle stone. Based on the characteristics of this group of tools, it is possible that the Neolithic people who settled in the area may have some sort of relationship with the Neolithic people in China known as the Neolithic people. beijing man or many other places in Southeast Asia and should be around the late Pleistocene period, or about two hundred to ten thousand years ago (Rasmi Chusongdet, 1982, 8; Weeraphan Malaiphan, 1982, 38-41)

It is worth noting that the stone used as a material for making tools found at Sop Kham archaeological site is mostly Andesite, which is 76.5% of all tools found. Other tools for making tools are ryorite and quartzite. All of them are igneous and metamorphic rocks, which are tough and hard enough to be used as stone tools (Rasamee Chusongdet, 1982, 36-37). It is noteworthy that few tools made from quartzite are found. Only four were found, while stone tools of the same era found in Kanchanaburi were all made of quartzite. The stone tools are made of Andesite rocks. and riorites are commonly found near western country borders. and in the north at the same latitude Therefore, it may reflect the selection of resources that are readily available in the locality that have inherited patterns of popularity among the communities in this area (Weeraphan Malaiphan, 1982, 36). Advances in tool making too, that is, cracking some tools starts with just a few cracks to scrapers. and later began to crack the area to be used to be sharper until it evolved into a fist ax but only cracked one page (Weeraphan Malaiphan, 1982, 35)

It can be concluded that the use of the area of ​​the former people around Sop Kham Archaeological Site and Chiang Saen City can be divided into 2 phases:

1. Social hunting phase or pre-agricultural society, about 15,000 – 7,000 years ago, a small society Make a living by catching fish, hunting, collecting vegetation from the forest and digging for roots and tubers for food. No permanent homestead No cultivation, animal husbandry, but known to make stone tools. and assumed that tools and weapons were made from wood as well The artifacts found were rough-cut pebble tools. just one page Andesite type and riolite Which is found mostly along the gravel beach in the Mekong River. It consists of a hack tool. (chopper-chopping tools) stone tools to crack the sharp edge around it are called "sumatralite" common in Thailand and Southeast Asia which were found both along the Mekong River plain from Sop Ruak to Sop Kham and along the slopes at the foot of Doi Kham, Doi Chan, south of Chiang Saen City (Prawat Thammapreechakorn, 1996, 8-9) in the 3rd soil layer or the lowest soil layer with human activity of the Sop Kham archaeological site. There is evidence to suggest that this is a social hunting stage.

2. Agrarian society, aged 7,000-3,000 years ago. The way of living knows agriculture. animal husbandry There are permanent settlements in villages along the riverbank plains. or a mound near the water's edge Pottery is produced and used. Stone tools have more elaborate making techniques. It has been polished until it is beautiful with clear sharp edges. ax-shaped There are both shoulder and smooth designs, known as terrazzo axes, corresponding to the evidence in the second soil layer of the Sop Kham archaeological site. which was also found to be similar to the evidence found at the slopes of the mountain, the foothills of the mountain and the plains surrounding Chiang Saen, such as Doi Chom Kitti, Doi Champi, with evidence of hunting societies as well as Sop Kham archaeological sites (Prawat Thammapreecha) Korn, 1996, 9)

Therefore, archaeological evidence was found along the river basin. It can be assumed that the land in this area, which is close to the city of Chiang Saen. Humans have lived since the hunting society until it developed into a society known for farming. Settle down permanently near a water source. The results of the analysis of stone tools by Rassamee Choosongdej (1982) concluded that the people in the Mekong River area Chiang Saen District Chiang Rai The same stone tools were produced. Although no other environmental evidence has been found, it is still not possible to interpret the community or cultural ownership of these stone tools. At present, there is no clear evidence of prehistoric metallurgy. or the term of an agricultural society that uses metal in the Chiang Saen area But it is believed that in that period there should be people living in this area. Continuing until the 18th Buddhist century, only archaeological evidence may be damaged due to natural disasters that often occur in this area, namely floods (Sakchai Saising, 2008, 8; Pariwat Thammapreechakorn, 1996, 9) This traditional society was the basis for the development of a large community and Chiang Saen that played an important role during the 19th-20th Buddhist century.