Shifting gender relations at Khok Phanom Di, Thailand: Isotopic evidence from the skeletons

Bentley, R.A.; Tayles, N.; Higham, C.; Macpherson, C.; Atkinson, T.C.

doi:10.1086/512987

Shifting gender relations at Khok Phanom Di, Thailand: Isotopic evidence from the skeletons

Bentley, R.A.; Tayles, N.; Higham, C.; Macpherson, C.; Atkinson, T.C.

Authors

R.A. Bentley

N. Tayles

C. Higham

Professor Colin Macpherson colin.macpherson@durham.ac.uk
Professor

T.C. Atkinson

Abstract

The values for isotopes of strontium, carbon, and oxygen in human tooth enamel from the prehistoric site of Khok Phanom Di (ca. 2100–1500 BC) in Thailand shed light on human mobility and marital residence during a crucial period of subsistence change. Khok Phanom Di was a sedentary coastal community that apparently relied on hunting, gathering, and fishing in the midst of a transition to rice agriculture in the interior. The results of the isotope analyses indicate female immigration and then a marked shift to local strontium isotope signatures among females accompanied by a clear increase in the prestige of female burials. A possible explanation is a shift in the pattern of exogamy with a concomitant change in gender relations. Observation of a very similar transition at Ban Chiang, in northeastern Thailand, suggests the possibility of a regionwide social transition. In the case of Khok Phanom Di, the increasing role of females in producing high-quality ceramic vessels may have contributed to the change.

Citation

Bentley, R., Tayles, N., Higham, C., Macpherson, C., & Atkinson, T. (2007). Shifting gender relations at Khok Phanom Di, Thailand: Isotopic evidence from the skeletons. Current Anthropology, 48(2), 301-314. https://doi.org/10.1086/512987

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2007
Deposit Date	Jun 26, 2008
Publicly Available Date	Jun 26, 2008
Journal	Current Anthropology
Print ISSN	0011-3204
Electronic ISSN	1537-5382
Publisher	The University of Chicago Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	48
Issue	2
Pages	301-314
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1086/512987