Cultural Dynamics of Human-Environmental Interaction in Tropical Highland Pang Mapha, Northwest Thailand
- Date: May 17, 2023
- Speaker: Rasmi Shoocongdej, Ph.D.
- Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Archaeology Silpakorn University, Bangkok
- Location: Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
- Room: Villa V14
- Host: Department of Archaeology
- Contact: richardson@shh.mpg.de
Over the past few years, archaeologists have made significant progress in understanding the processes of cultural and social changes documented in the Late and Post-Pleistocene archaeological record in Southeast Asian seasonal tropical environments. This talk explores the interactions between prehistoric humans and their environments through the study of adaptation as a key change in human behavioral patterns both synchronically and diachronically (ca. 32,000 – 1,100 B.P.).
The
data derive from multidisciplinary research in highland Pang Mapha, Mae Hong
Son province, northwestern Thailand. Particular emphasis will be placed on how
prehistoric populations adapted to their environments (e.g., mortuary rituals,
migration, technological innovation) and became resilient to climatic changes
through the examination of the variability of behavioral strategies in
settlements associated with economic and ritual activities in the mountainous
landscapes. This analysis permits us to increase our understanding of human-environment
relations over time and space across the highland region.