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The case for proto-Dvāravatī: A review of the art historical and archaeological evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2016

Stephen A. Murphy
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Abstract

The mid-first millennium CE represents a crucial period in the emergence of early polities in Southeast Asia. However, disagreement remains between archaeologists and art historians as to the precise dating of this shift from prehistory to history. This article focuses on the Dvāravatī period and re-evaluates evidence in Thai and Western language publications. A growing number of sites excavated over the past two decades in particular show occupation from c. the fourth to fifth century onwards while others provide a continual sequence stretching back well into the Iron Age. I argue that evidence from these sites makes a strong case for postulating a proto-Dvāravatī period spanning c. the fourth to fifth centuries. In doing so this article proposes this period as the timeframe within which the nascent traits and characteristics of what becomes Dvāravatī in the seventh to ninth centuries are present and gradually developing.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , October 2016 , pp. 366 - 392
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2016 

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References

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21 Ibid., p. 163.

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39 Murphy, ‘Buddhism and its relationship to Dvāravatī’.

40 See for example, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, Tamnan phraphuttha chedi; Quaritch Wales, Dvāravatī.

41 Guy, Lost kingdoms, cat. nos. 9 and 10.

42 See for example, Woodward, Sacred sculpture, figs. 38 and 39; Guy, Lost Kingdoms, cat. no. 9.

43 Woodward, Sacred sculpture, p. 46; Guy Lost kingdoms, cat. no. 9.

44 Woodward, Sacred sculpture, pp. 50–52.

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48 Ibid.

49 Indrawooth, ‘The archaeology’, p. 127, fig. 6.7; Gallon, Ideology, identity, p. 80, fig. 3.1.

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56 Trongjai Hutangkura, ‘Reconsidering the palaeo-shoreline in the lower central plain of Thailand’, in Revire and Murphy, Before Siam, pp. 32–67.

57 Ibid., p. 63, fig. 17.

58 For a similar study of moated sites in northeast Thailand, see Murphy, Stephen A., ‘How many monks? Quantitative and demographic archaeological approaches to Buddhism in northeast Thailand and central Laos, 6th–11th centuries CE’, in Buddhist dynamics in premodern Southeast Asia, ed. Lammerts, D. Christian (Singapore: ISEAS, 2015), pp. 80–119 Google Scholar.

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61 Quaritch Wales, Dvāravatī, pp. 20–21.

62 Mudar, ‘How many Dvaravati kingdoms?’: 23.

63 Quaritch Wales, Dvāravatī, pp. 32–3.

64 Barram and Glover, ‘Re-thinking Dvaravati’.

65 Bronson, ‘Excavations at Chansen’: 317.

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71 For Chula Pathon Chedi see, Dupont, L'Archéologie; For Phra Pathon Chedi see, Usa Nguanphienphak, ‘Fouilles récentes au Phra Pathon Chedi’, in Baptiste and Zéphir, Dvāravatī, pp. 145–9.

72 Indrawooth, ‘The archaeology’, p. 135.

73 Indrawooth, Phasook, Raingan kankutkon ti tambon Phra Pathon, Amphoe Mueang, Changwat Nakhon Pathom [Report of the excavation at Tambon Phra Prathon, Amphoe Mueang, Changwat Nakhon Pathom] (Bangkok: Silpakorn University, 1983)Google Scholar.

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77 Ibid., p. 168.

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85 Barram and Glover, ‘Re-thinking Dvaravati’, p. 180 and table 1.

86 Thaiyanonda, ‘Cultural development’, p. 102, fig. 43.

87 Gallon, Ideology, identity, p. 18.

88 Some scholars, however, argue for a 7th–8th century CE date; for example, Revire, ‘Glimpses of Buddhist practices’, fig. 1.

89 Boisselier, ‘U-T'ong et son Importance’, pp. 27–30; Indrawooth, ‘The archaeology’, p. 138.

90 Ibid.

91 Gallon, ‘Ideology, identity’, p. 75.

92 Ibid.

93 The socle is the part that connects the pillar (stambha) and wheel (cakra) securely in place.

94 Gallon, ‘Ideology, identity’, pp. 332–5.

95 Ibid., p. 275, table 5.5.

96 Ibid., p. 283.

97 Ibid., p. 284.

98 Ibid., pp. 285–6. Gallon's dissertation also contains two useful tables (A.1 and A.2) summarising all known radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates from Dvāravatī sites as of 2013.

99 Thanik Lertcharnrit, ‘Phromthin Tai: An archaeological perspective on its societal transitions’, in Revire and Murphy, Before Siam, pp. 120–21.

100 Ibid., table 1.

101 Ibid., p. 123.

102 Khunsong, Saritpong, ‘Archaeological excavation at Kishkindha, a Dvaravati city in central Thailand’, in Unearthing Southeast Asia's past: Selected papers from the 12th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, vol. 1, ed. Klokke, Marijke J. and Degroot, Véronique (Singapore: NUS Press, 2013), pp. 234–40Google Scholar.

103 Ibid., tables 1 and 2.

104 Ibid.; see also Fine Arts Department of Thailand, Raignanchapapsombon khrong kansueksa wichai lae patthana mueang Kheedkhin tambon Ban Ho amphoe Ban Ho changwat Saraburi [Final report of the study and development of Kheed Khin, tambon Ban Ho amphoe Ban Ho changwat Saraburi] (Ayutthaya: FAD Regional Office no. 3, 2007), p. 203 Google Scholar.

105 Khunsong states that 1400–1200 BP equates to the seventh to ninth centuries, but it appears he has miscalculated the conversion of BP to CE. BP dates are calculated from 1 Jan. 1950 as opposed to the current Gregorian calendar year, as Khunsong has appeared to have done.

106 See, FAD, Raignanchapapsombon, figs. 3.10, p. 40, and 3.23, p. 62.

107 Ibid., pp. 59–61, 204–7.

108 See also Higham and Evans et al., this vol. Both articles discuss the Mun Valley region in northeast Thailand and also argue for transitions taking place in the fourth to sixth centuries.

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111 Ibid., p. iv.

112 Ibid., p. 118.

113 Ibid.; Bronson, ‘Excavations at Chansen’, pp. 359–63.

114 Murphy, ‘The distribution of sema stones’, p. 223.

115 Indrawooth, Phasook, Raingan kankutkon Mueang Fa Daed Song Yang Ampoe Kamalasai Changwat Kalasin [Report on the excavation at Muang Fa Daed Song Yang, Kamalasai district, Kalasin province] (Bangkok: Silpakorn University, 2001), p. 74 Google Scholar.

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118 Stark, ‘Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian Cambodia’, pp. 96–100; see also, Heng, this vol.

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