S39-2

New Compositional and Isotopic Data for the Glass Beads of Tha Kae, Thailand

Laure Dussubieux1 & T.O. Pryce2

1The Field Museum, U.S.A.

2Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, France

Elemental analysis has been an important tool in the last two decades in archaeological research in Southeast Asia, allowing the reconstruction of ancient interaction networks while isotopic analysis is an approach applied more recently in this region. It offers a more detailed glass characterization and the possibility to determine more precisely the provenance of the glass. With this study we expand the glass data available for Central Thailand through the analysis of elemental and isotopic (Sr-Pb-Nd) compositions of glass beads from Tha Kae. Although several glass types were found at Tha Kae, glass from South India dominates the assemblage. This glass is particularly common during the 1st millennium AD in Southeast Asia. A small amount of potash glass might suggest an earlier component at the site dating from the end of the 1st millennium BC and a connection (maybe indirect) with the South China Sea trading sphere.