The Bangkok National Museum
Building No.1 and No.2
Earthenware pot from Ban Chiang.
Late period, 300 B.C.-100 A.D. |
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Prehistory
Gallery
The Prehistory Gallery is at the rear of the first building,
and entered by a side door. Fine examples of ceramics,
bronzes, cave paintings, bead and burial methods dating
between 3700 B.C. and 300 A.D. from sites all over
Thailand are on show. First excavated in the 1960s,
these sites established the existence of prehistoric
cultures in what is now Thailand.
The
discovery and study of prehistoric cultures in Thailand
is a relatively recent phenomenon. Until the middle of this
century, such discoveries were largely accidental. Since
the 1960s, systematic and ongoing archaeological investigations on prehistoric
sites have revealed that
complex cultures flourished in the region. Sites include
Spirit Cave in northern Thailand, Non Nok Tha and Ban Chiang in the northeast, Ban
Kao and Don Tha Phet in
the Kanchanaburi region. Perhaps the most famous and
most controversial at present is the site of Ban Chiang.
The Bangkok National Museum
collection includes fine
ceramics and bronnzes that provide tantalising glimpses
into the lives and technologies of these prehistoric peoples. |
Map
of National Museum
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