S13-8

Maritime Landscape and the Rock Art Traditions at Lanta Bay, Krabi, Thailand

Sorathach Rotchanarat1, Noel Hidalgo Tan2, Bérénice Bellina3, Olivier Evrard4, Jutinach Bowonsachoti5, Sirikanya Chantasri5, Pitakpoom Argaros5

1Fine Arts Department, The 6th Regional Office of Fine Arts Sukhothai, Thailand

2Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Art (SEAMEO-SPAFA), Thailand

3French National Centre for Scientific Research Paris

4French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development Paris, France

5Fine Arts Department, The 12th Regional Office of Fine Arts Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

Several Rock Art sites were discovered and partially studied in southern Thailand, especially in Phang Nga Bay. Fewer are known further south, in the coastal area along the Lanta Bay and in the Trang and Satun provinces. This presentation provides preliminary results of surveys conducted in 2021 on caves located in the coastal zone and offshore in the Lanta Bay as part of the Thai-French Archaeological Mission that focuses on the maritime landscape and exchange networks. The project is done in collaboration with local groups in Ko Lanta, amongst which are the indigenous maritime people called “Urak Lawoi.” This participatory approach shed new light on the potential rock art traditions this region possesses, and on the relationship the Ko Lanta have with landscape and rock Art. The rock art may correspond to landmarks for navigation, especially along exchange routes linking the bay to Trang, Satun and Malaysia, and/or form part of rituals undertaken during successive sequences of use by various local and foreign groups. This project also focuses on the special relationship local groups, and especially the Urak Lawoi, developed with hills and caves, in particular, on islands.