At the height of the pandemic and working from home, my biggest question was ‘what is the relevance of archaeology during this pandemic and beyond?’. Many archaeologists and heritage scholars have started engaging with the world outside academia and that the pursuit of education and research is not exclusive to those with archaeology degrees. In the Philippines, archaeology originated with Europeans collecting archaeological materials that ended up in museums. Since the beginning of the 20th century, archaeology was regulated by a national agency, and after the 1950s, it eventually made academia its home. In an ivory tower, where actual relevance to and in contemporary society is difficult to identify, rethinking how Philippine archaeology should be practiced was due to the frustration in explaining why archaeology is not treasure hunting. In this presentation, I will discuss how recent works in Philippine archaeology can create meaningful narratives for the communities and the public, highlight inclusivity, and assert identity. Enriching the practice of archaeology through creating unique, ethical, and legal approaches evaluates power relations that empowers Indigenous Peoples, Southeast Asian archaeologists, and younger archaeologists; and include non-academics in the practice and interpretation. A former student asked, ‘what is the measure of success?’. I still do not know the answer, but what I do know is that we should make it relevant to others, and not just to archaeologists. My aim is to encourage archaeologists to address contemporary global issues such as food security, peace, climate change, and human rights.

Under an un-polluted sky, our ancestors watched, searching for answers to the motion of the stars. Around the globe communities created various beliefs about the cosmos leading to the emergence of cultural and ideological traditions and festivals. From Stonehenge to Great Pyramid of Giza, from the Great Stupa of Sanchi to Doi Suthep Temple, monuments are aligned with their heavens, providing a reference to time and direction. Many were not built all at once on a single plan and often there is no record for the timing of their construction. Using reverse calculations of the sky map together with written texts that related to the concept of the monuments, one can determine the date these monuments were constructed and fill in missing pieces of the jigsaw of history.

Here, I present work that has been conducted in Chiang Mai at Doi Suthep Temple. An archaeoastronomical methodology was applied to the alignment of the temple, together with a study of Lanna’s records and other scriptures, i.e., Purana Samhita and the idea that this sacred temple was established on an auspicious date in the Lanna Calendar. The results suggest that the temple orientation might relate to the acronychal rising of the constellation Corona Borealis during the 15th century CE, a time when King Mueangketklao reconstructed the present temple. This constellation is related to the Lunar Mansion, Vishakha Nakshatra. At present, there is still a tradition of walking up to Doi Suthep Temple on Visakha Bucha Eve to worship Lord Buddha’s relics enshrined at the top of the Chedi.

The upland region to the east of the Salween River basin has been acknowledged as part of the marginal zone and has been frequently claimed as their territory by the lowland states, particularly Lanna and Ava. Explanations of the social and political development of this region have been obscured by the lowland states. As a result, the lowland has been described as the centre and the highland as the periphery in the majority of narratives. The objective of this study is to examine the highland-lowland relationship from perspectives other than the theme of centre and periphery and to propose archaeological interpretations of the highland-lowland relationship based on archaeological evidence such as mound burial sites, settlements, and compound sites discovered within the upland of Salween and Ping River basins. 

"Dvaravati" in the general perception, is the early historical period in Thailand, dated from the 6th or 7th century CE to the 11th century CE. “Dvaravati” is often understood as only representing the Theravada Buddhism culture. The study of this significant period in Thai history during the last 15 years has focused on four essential topics: the idea of the pre- or proto-Dvaravati period, trade and maritime networks during the Davaravati period, the fall of the Dvaravati, and a recent debate on whether Si Thep was the capital of Dvaravati. In this brief presentation I will discuss spectacular new insights into Dvaravati's capital that has gained much attention in Thailand during the last five years. The paper also presents a concise history of Thailand, connections with neighbouring dynasties, crucial evidence of the Pashupati sect royal cult, and the presence of other centres in early-historic Thailand, before and contemporary with Dvaravati.

"Dvaravati" in the general perception, is the early historical period in Thailand, dated from the 6th or 7th century CE to the 11th century CE. “Dvaravati” is often understood as only representing the Theravada Buddhism culture. The study of this significant period in Thai history during the last 15 years has focused on four essential topics: the idea of the pre- or proto-Dvaravati period, trade and maritime networks during the Davaravati period, the fall of the Dvaravati, and a recent debate on whether Si Thep was the capital of Dvaravati. In this brief presentation I will discuss spectacular new insights into Dvaravati's capital that has gained much attention in Thailand during the last five years. The paper also presents a concise history of Thailand, connections with neighbouring dynasties, crucial evidence of the Pashupati sect royal cult, and the presence of other centres in early-historic Thailand, before and contemporary with Dvaravati.

The Ptolemy’s Southeast Asia Map, or the so-called “India beyond the Ganges,” dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries CE was created with nautical geographical information. The map contains the locations of capes, river mouths, cities, and regions recognized at that time, but they appear to be mysterious places that could not be directly related to known historical and archaeological contexts of Southeast Asia. As an aid to solving the riddles of Ptolemy’s Southeast Asia map, ancient Chinese sources have been cross-referenced. The historical book “Sānguó zhì” (Records of the Three Kingdoms) and Kang Tai’s work “Wúshí wàiguó zhuán” (Accounts of foreign states in Wu times), for example, which date from the 3rd century CE, reported on the existence of “Funan” as the most powerful state of the Southern Sea barbarians. Geographical and toponymical relations between Ptolemy’s and the Chinese information were studied to reveal their cognates. The results are suggestive that (1) Ptolemy’s Great Cape and the city of Zabai correspond geographically to the Cape Cà Mau and the Óc Eo archaeological site in Southern Vietnam, respectively; and (2) Ptolemy’s “Balonga” (Metropolis) is cognate to Kang Tai’s “Funan” (Hokkien: Hûlâm). Archaeological evidence of both Chinese and Indo-Roman maritime trading networks found in the region are also suggestive that protohistoric states could have existed in Southeast Asia at least since the 1st century CE as scattered trading communities around the sub-continent, whose received coordinates were understood by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE. The existence of these cities and states and their sovereignty were confirmed by representatives of Funan in the Palace of the Wu State in the 3rd century CE and afterward.

In Vietnam, there is still a tendency to interpret the chronology of an archaeological site and/or culture based on stratigraphic principles, typological sequencing, seriation and ethnoarchaeological comparisons. Irrespective of geographic location, material culture comparisons are made with better-known and absolute dated sites, such as those in the Red River delta, and the chronological and cultural sequences linked, generally as contemporaneous. The Three Age System is applied, and the archaeological site/culture placed within the corresponding periodization (Neolithic, Bronze Age or Iron Age), even though this type of phasing may not accurately reflect the archaeological record. This has resulted in the interpretation of an almost coeval, unilinear transformation from the Palaeolithic to Iron Age across Vietnam. In reality this is almost certainly not the case, and the emergence of bronze metallurgy, for example, was much more complex than currently envisaged. One of the first steps to unravelling social and cultural complexities across the region is the application and interpretation of much more comprehensive chronometric dating programs. Although, there have been significant advances in the use of absolute dating techniques in recent years, numerous problems still exist both in terms of methodologies and interpretation. For instance, there remains an emphasis on excavation, limiting funding for post-excavation research, poor sampling strategies, and the continuing tendency to use one or two ad hoc radiocarbon dates to define the chronological framework for an entire culture. In this presentation, I will discuss the introduction, use and impact of relative and absolute dating systems. I will outline outstanding problems and causes, both objective and subjective in understanding the chronologies in Vietnamese prehistoric archaeology, and propose some possible future solutions.

Two critical dispersal events in human evolution are the appearance and spread of Homo erectus and Acheulian technology in the Early Pleistocene and Homo sapiens with varied technologies in the Late Pleistocene. Both these events have been considered as exclusively out of Africa movements of hominin populations. As a result, the Indian Subcontinent currently plays little role in human origin narratives. It is argued here that the earliest appearance of Acheulian technology is of similar antiquity in the Indian subcontinent as it is in Africa, and an evolutionary origin for Acheulian-producing hominins outside of Africa cannot be completely ruled out. Furthermore, while it is difficult to evaluate the status of hominins in India during MIS 5 (due to lack of hominin fossils), it has been demonstrated that anatomically modern humans were present from the earliest phases of MIS 3, possessing a fully developed microblade technology – leading to the possibility of a secondary modern human dispersal originating from the Indian Subcontinent. It is suggested that variability in climate and environment might have played a significant role in the evolution of diverse hominin populations with competitive interactions between those inhabiting the tropical Indo-Malayan and temperate Palaeoarctic biogeographic zones. We will look to the future and discuss how further research can help highlight the important role the Indian subcontinent can play in piecing together the human origins puzzle.

During the 20th Century, Homo erectus was the only major archaic hominin species known from the Indo-Pacific region, and under the multiregional perspectives of modern human origins, this region had been largely regarded as “periphery”. Recent discoveries of Homo floresiensis on Flores, Homo luzonensis on Luzon, and other fossils and artifacts from India, southwest China, Taiwan, Sulawesi and elsewhere, as well as the development of refined chronologies have dramatically changed our perception of regional hominin diversity and biogeography during the Early−Middle Pleistocene. The rise of Out of Africa theory of modern human origins has also posed interesting questions regarding the arrival, dispersal, and adaptation of our species to diverse regional environments including rainforests, deserts, and offshore islands. Overall, the Indo-Pacific region can no longer be regarded as “periphery” but rather as a “frontier” of Pleistocene human evolution and dispersals. How hominins of different evolutionary grades pioneered these challenging environments at various times during the past are questions both challenging and exciting for constructing a deeper understanding of human evolution.