Wash and wear, disposable and cheap: Ceramic bangles as everyday personal ornaments not for symbolic use

Abstract

Fragments of what appear to be clay bangles are regularly found in Bronze Age and Iron Age sites in Central and Northeast Thailand; these are generally multicomponent sites that include mortuary dimensions. Graves are often dug from, into or between occupation deposits and it is from these contexts that the clay bangle fragments are usually recovered. No clay bangles have been found complete and any found within graves are almost certainly accidental inclusions. In contrast, bangles of shell, marble, nephrite, copper-alloy and iron are all common grave goods. In this paper probable clay bangles from Noen U-Loke in Northeast Thailand and Non Pa Wai in Central Thailand are discussed. The basic questions considered are (1) what is the relationship between fired clay bangles to those made of other materials and (2) what does this relationship tell us about the living communities in prehistoric Thailand?