Non Muang Kao

Non Muang Kao
โนนเมืองเก่า (Thai)
Location in Thailand
Location in Thailand
Location in Thailand
Interactive map of Non Muang Kao
15°12′55″N 102°17′13″E / 15.21528°N 102.28694°E / 15.21528; 102.28694
TypeArchaeological site
PeriodsLate Iron Age to pre-Angkorian
Cultures
  • Pre-Angkorian
LocationLum Khao subdistrict [th], Non Sung district, Nakhon Ratchasima province
Site notes
Areac. 330 rai (53 ha)

Non Muang Kao (Thai: โนนเมืองเก่า) is an archaeological site in Ban Dong Plong (บ้านดงพลอง), Non Sung district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeastern Thailand. It is a large oval occupation mound, dated to the 1st to 6th centuries CE.: 447  Excavation has found clay floors and wall foundations, and a small number of burials.: 447  With the neighbouring mound of Non Ban Jak, it has been read as giving the first clear evidence in the valley of a transition from prehistory into the earliest historical or pre-Angkorian period.: 448 

In 2011, the provincial governor moved to have the archaeological sites of the upper Mun basin in Non Sung district listed as a UNESCO World Heritage property. The property was called The Upper Mun River Basin Archaeological Sites, Non Sung, Nakhon Ratchasima (แหล่งโบราณคดีลุ่มแม่น้ำมูลตอนต้น โนนสูง นครราชสีมา), a name covering the basin rather than a single site. The area was given as five locations in the district, namely Ban Non Wat, Ban Lum Khao, Ban Prasat, Non Muang Kao, and Noen U-Loke.

History

The site is named, with Noen U-Loke, among those whose occupation appears to have been abandoned in the 5th and 6th centuries CE.: 447  It is also named among the large Late Iron Age mounds of the valley thought likely to have continued growing into the pre-Angkorian period, creating multiple competing centres.: 461  The transition at the two mounds has been described as a change in the nature of settlement, involving residential complexes, a ceramic tradition combining indigenous and external qualities, and the modification of encircling earthworks in support of an agricultural surplus.: 448 

Site and excavation

The mound covers about 330 rai (53 ha) and is enclosed by two moats. Iron ore occurs commonly near the surface. Excavation has revealed extensive housing structures, including plastered floors, post holes, graves lined with plaster, and clay floors with doorways and internal wall structures.: 447  Floors and wall foundations were traced in the same fashion as at Non Ban Jak, with lip-to-lip pots in the corners of rooms and burials beneath the floors. The excavated area was relatively small, however, and no structural plans have been traced.: 40 

Few burials were recovered, partly because of poor preservation. Those found were interred with glass, agate, and bronze and iron jewellery, with fine Phimai Black vessels, and with an abundance of burnt rice.: 447  Ritual deposits of a lidded pot were first identified here and at Noen U-Loke.: 32 

References

  1. 1 2 "โนนเมืองเก่า" [Non Muang Kao]. Suranaree University of Technology (in Thai). 23 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 October 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Caitlin Evans; Nigel Chang; Naho Shimizu (2016). "Sites, survey, and ceramics: Settlement patterns of the first to ninth centuries CE in the Upper Mun River Valley, northeast Thailand" (PDF). Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 47 (3): 438–467. doi:10.1017/S0022463416000278. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
  3. 1 2 ผู้ว่าฯโคราชดันแหล่งโบราณคดี“โนนสูง”เป็นมรดกโลก [Nakhon Ratchasima governor pushes the "Non Sung" archaeological site for World Heritage status]. MGR Online (in Thai). Nakhon Ratchasima News Centre. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2026.
  4. 1 2 Charles Higham; Judith Cameron; Nigel Chang; Cristina Castillo; Dougald O'Reilly; Fiona Petchey; Louise Shewan (2014). "The Excavation of Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand - A Report on the First Three Seasons". Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology. 34: 1–41. doi:10.7152/jipa.v34i0.14721. Archived from the original on 5 July 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2026.