Some Southeast Asian history from 1000-500BC

Plain of Jars site in Laos

This is a post about Southeast Asian history from 1000-500BC. I am not an expert on this time period at all and there is much that is still unknown and being discovered by archaeologists, but the broad outlines of what I will describe here will hopefully be mostly correct. The dates presented here will be very broad estimates and may well be wildly off. This is a time before writing in this part of the world so the main sources will be entirely archaeological but I may make some references to later myths and legends.

For the purposes of this blog, Southeast Asia will be held to comprise the lands of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the archipelago of Indonesia and East Timor. There are strong reasons for including Taiwan and southern China within the remit of this piece, but these will be covered elsewhere I think.

From a linguistic perspective, the mainland of Southeast Asia was probably populated by speakers of Proto-Austroasiatic languages, which would later diverge to form language groups such as the Khmer and Vietic languages. The speakers of Austronesia languages had begun their epic migrations that would see their language family stretch from Madagascar to Easter Island. Other languages such as Tai languages group or the Lolo-Burmese portion of Sino-Tibetan were not yet much spoken in the region, as the speakers of these languages came in later migrations to the region. Agriculture had spread to nearly every part of Southeast Asia and bronze working was well known on the mainland, although it had perhaps not spread out to the island archipelagos of Indonesia and the Philippines just yet.

Plain of Jars site in Laos

At the beginning of this period, around the century of the 1000’s BC the Đồng Đậu culture in Vietnam had been replaced by the Gò Mun culture and the Dong Son culture. Further to the south of the Red River basin, in central and southern Vietnam, the Sa Huỳnh culture was beginning.

The Dong Son culture was a Bronze Age culture centred on the Red River Delta in Vietnam. They had used wet-rice agriculture to feed their people. Later Vietnamese chronicles speak of a semi-legendary Van Lang Dynasty that ruled the region around this time and far earlier. It is likely that the Van Lang are legendary, at least around this period. But it is also possible that in the following centuries that there was a kingdom called Van Lang. If this kingdom did exist, it was said to have an important citadel at Cổ Loa, where there is indeed a record of ancient settlement. As I say, I don’t want to credit the legends of the Van Lang too much, but I would not consider them entirely without foundation either.

Distribution of Dong Son drums

The Sa Huỳnh culture further to the south was another Bronze Age culture. This was situated closer to the northern shores of the Mekong Delta. They maintained an extensive trade network and seem to have had trade contacts with the Philippine Archipelago in later centuries, particularly trading for jade, which was precious throughout much of East Asia.

Around the century of the 800’s BC the Gò Mun culture seems to have come to an end. This was a culture in what is now northern Vietnam and either the people of the Gò Mun culture were conquered or assimilated into the Dong Son culture, or the material goods and cultural patterns of the Dong Son culture were perceived as superior and thus adopted by the Gò Mun culture.

Also around this time, the Xieng Khouang Plateau in Laos saw a trading society. This is interesting as it shows that trading networks were spreading into the interior regions, whereas the Sa Huỳnh and Dong Son appear to have been trading by sea.

Around the century of the 700’s BC wet rice cultivation had spread to the Indonesian Archipelago. Or more accurately, it had spread to certain areas thereof, particularly Java.

Dong Son drum

By around the century of the 600’s BC the Dong Son culture began to produce very finely worked drums in bronze. These drums were used by the chieftains and leaders of the Dong Son society and some very large drums have been found at their citadels and fortified sites. But many of these drums were also traded and many of them have found their way to other regions around Southeast Asia, where they were traded or given as gifts to high status individuals across the region.

Around the century of the 500's BC ironworking was beginning to be seen in Mandalay in what is now Burma. Iron-working had now begun to spread throughout much of the region, particularly the regions now referred to as Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It is probable that iron-working was known in what is now the country of Vietnam, but considering that bronze-working was held in such high esteem by the cultures there, it may have delayed the onset of the Iron Age.

In what is now Laos, it is probable that the site known as the Plain of Jars began to be used. The Plain of Jars is an area on the Xieng Khouang Plateau that contains some enigmatic monuments. Great stone jars were placed across the plains. The jars were probably once lidded, but few lids survive. These megaliths, for they are carved out of single large stones, are not easy to date, as stone cannot be carbon-dated. It is suspected that these are connected in some ways with the trade routes through the region, but we cannot tell exactly who built the jars on the Plain of Jars, or why. They are perhaps one of the most fascinating megalithic sites in the world.

And thus the period draws to a close, with the beginning of the Iron Age in Southeast Asia, the long-distance Sa Huỳnh trading network, the elaborate bronze drums for the elites of the Dong Son, and the Plain of Jars for reasons that no one yet knows.

Dong Son drums

Related Blog Posts:
Some Southeast Asian history from 4000-2000BC
Some Southeast Asian history from 2000-1000BC
Some Southeast Asian history from 1000-500BC
The Plain of Jars

The Plain of Jars

I recently wrote a post dealing mainly with megalithic sites in Ireland. While writing this I was reminded of a site that has always fascinated me on the other side of the world. As megalithic monuments go, they don’t get too much more enigmatic than the Plain of Jars.
         
Located near Phonsavan, in the mountains of Laos, are megalithic (literally “big stone”) monuments. But, almost uniquely insofar as I can tell, these objects are shaped as giant stone jars. Thousands of them have been identified and they are dispersed over a number of sites, but all within a relatively small area. These jars range in size, but the largest of them are very impressive. They become even more impressive to the viewer when it becomes evident on inspection that they are carved from solid rock.

It is unclear what date should be assigned to them. Scholarly estimates range from 500 BC to 1100 AD. As they are carved into stone it is impossible to use standard radio-carbon testing on them and the continuous occupation of the site means that artefacts from a variety of eras may be found.

The main theories are that either the jars were the burial places of important people or it was a place for traders to stop and use the rainwater collected in the jars. The fact that these theories are so completely different highlights the difficulties in understanding this site.

There is however, a more immediate obstacle to understanding the site. During the Vietnam War the US Air Force carried out bombing raids on the surrounding countries of Cambodia and Laos to try to stop North Vietnamese supplies reaching the Viet Cong by different routes. The Plain of Jars was heavily bombed with some destruction of the artefacts. Due to the remote nature of the site and lack of resources allocated, the site is still quite dangerous decades after the bombing ended. Unexploded bombs and rusted shrapnel are a hazard for those who stray off the beaten track. There are ongoing projects to attempt to clear the site in its entirety and develop it into a major attraction and possibly a UNESCO World Heritage site.
       
I have to apologise to the reader for an ongoing theme over the last few posts, where I have spoken at length about the difficulty of getting real information about a particularly interesting place or event. I have decided to write some background articles about earlier history to provide perspective for those who are not comfortable with ancient history. If you enjoy the mystical fog of unknowing and have enjoyed the last few posts, I am delighted. If you are more comfortable with firm facts and such like, then rest assured that I shall return to the realms of the well-documented shortly.