Personhood and Power at Late Prehistoric Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand

Stacey Ward1*, Hallie R. Buckley2, Tilman M. Davies3, Kate M. Domett4, Andrew R. Gray5, Siân E. Halcrow2,6, Charles F. W. Higham7, Dougald J. W. O'Reilly1, Louise Shewan8, and Baylee A. Smith7

Later prehistory has been identified as a time of rapid social change northeast Thailand. However, the nature, scale, and impacts of this social change are debated. Personhood theory provides an alternative avenue for understanding social change during this critical period. Access to personhood can be manipulated to enact social discrimination and control, providing a pathway for the establishment and perpetuation of structural inequalities. Illuminating power dynamics within a community may in turn allow characterisation of social structure. We therefore aim to explore social dynamics at the site of Non Ban Jak (300-800CE) in northeast Thailand through the lens of personhood theory. Using logistic regression, we 1) tested for associations between specific grave inclusions and proxies for identity, including age, sex, class, and burial group; and 2) explored associations between personhood and physiological stress, an established proxy for the effects of discrimination. Results suggest that specific mortuary offerings were used to signal aspects of the identity, including personhood status, within Non Ban Jak society. Personhood was accessible to all, including the youngest members of society, and was likely incremental and non-linear. A lack of statistically significant associations between health and personhood status suggests that access to personhood was not restricted by social status. Our findings suggest that access to personhood was likely not leveraged as a pathway to power at Non Ban Jak. However, power may still have been accrued and applied through alternative means, and the possibility of social inequality cannot be excluded for this site.