EAAF 03/03/10: Ladies First: Human Mobility and Social Differentiation in Neolithic to Iron Age Southeast Asia

February 24th, 2010

Please join us for our next meeting of Boston University’s East Asian Archaeology Forum (EAAF)– presenting bioarchaeological research in Southeast Asian archaeology:

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 4:15 p.m.

Dr. Alex Bentley
(Dept. of Anthropology, Durham University)

“Ladies First: Human Mobility and Social Differentiation in Neolithic to Iron Age Southeast Asia”

The talk will begin at 4:15 p.m. in ICEAACH Library (650 Beacon St, 5th Floor, at the Kenmore “T” Station). Refreshments will be served!.

We hope to see you there!

**Support for the EAAF Lecture Series is provided by the Boston University Humanities Foundation.

We hope to see you then! (Questions? Call us at 617-358-8000)

Abstract

To varying degrees, the spread of agriculture into of Southeast Asia, and subsequent development of complex societies, has been linked to similar preceding developments in China. By measuring isotopic signatures in archaeological skeletons from a number of sites of prehistoric Thailand (Neolithic to the Iron Age), we are identifying correlations through time between the geographic origins of individuals (isotopes), genetic relatedness (skeletal and dental traits), social distinctions (burial treatments, artefacts) and quality of life (skeletal biology) of individuals and groups. We are hopeful that these multiple lines of evidence can provide a new perspective on changes in social differentiation, migration between communities, and marriage exchange through time: all poorly understood social aspects of early state origins in Southeast Asia.