Archaeological site in north Thailand

- a bit of archaeology near Chiang Rai, northernmost Thailand -

Remnants of dozens of ancient kilns uncovered near Chiang Rai, northernmost Thailand.

I'm Ken, an American who has been residing for 12 years in a village just outside Chiang Rai, 2 miles northwest of downtown.

On one of the properties I secured had never been developed in any manner, which was a big reason for its appeal. Its 4 rai (nearly 2 acres) sits at the base of limestone cliffs which soar up over 100 meters along the entire 200 meters of the northeast of the property.

In late spring 2010, I hired a local guy with a farm tractor and scrapper blade to scrape weeds off a part of the property. During the course of his scrapping, he uncovered several orange circles. We counted about 20, but there could easily be over 100, as everywhere we dig in that immediate location, we are likely to hit some of the ancient red brick which piqued our interest.

Another of the kiln sites, estimated to be several hundred years old. It's 1.7 meters in diameter, and it's orange color is from old bricks used in its construction. If it was igloo-shaped, it would have stood just over a meter high.

take a look at the photo above. The black sandal is there to give an idea of 'scale.' Each circle is nearly 2 meters in diameter. My first thought, when seeing them, is that they were remnants of ancient kilns for making pottery. However, we didn't find any pottery or shards anywhere on the site. Upon closer inspection, we found fist-sized clumps of dark glass, and we found bits of metal slag of all sizes - on up to coconut sized. We then concluded it must have been an ancient site for smelting metal - though we didn't find any isolated metal. We surmised that the orange clay circles were remnants of igloo shaped brick structures used for smelting the iron. The clumps of glass mixed with slag, which we found in abundance, are the result of sand (silicon) subject to high heat.

The large nearby river, called the Mae Kok, flows east out of Burma (at Taton, about 100 miles to the west of Chiang Rai), and merges with the Mekong, about 100 miles further east. Not surprisingly, the river has switched courses many times over millenia. Not long ago, perhaps 100 to 200 years earlier, the river ran directly through the property we're talking about. The evidence is clearly there, in a wide 4 meter deep depression in the sandy soil, which curves when it abuts up against the steep limestone hill at the NE part of the property.

Anyone interested in assisting with researching and/or hand-excavating on-site, in this regard, please contact Ken.
Boomerang can provide accommodation, with hot shower for the right person(s).

The limestone cliffs nearby are believed to have been formed from ancient coral formations from eons ago. Though metals are not evident, two types of natural crystal has been found in many parts of the cliffs. The less common type are light brown low-grade crystals. More abundant are tiny white crystals packed tightly together. These can be found in large masses, some larger than a many bedroom house. They're not evident, because a very thin (1 mm) light gray covering always covers them - a result of exposure to the elements. However, just scratch the surface (literally) and the rocks' crystalline whiteness is revealed in its sparkly splendor.

The above photo was taken in Spring 2010. In the months since, several improvements have been done, including some brush and vines taken off the hillsides, most of it already dead.

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