Applications of Scientific Data to the Studies of Ancient Tambralinga’s Agriculture and Brick Monuments in Sichon

Abstract

This article goes beyond the historical narratives to apply scientific methods to the archaeological studies of the ancient kingdom of Tambralinga in Southern Thailand. Its objectives are (1) to examine the geography related to agriculture and settlement pattern using data from ground surveys, aerial photographs, and Geographical Information System, (2) to determine the dates of some important brick shrines using data from the themoluminescence dating technique, and (3) to reveal the layout of the ancient Khao Kha religious complex using the data from the Structure-from-Motion technology in the area of Sichon District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. It proposes that the ancient communities of approximately the 6^th to 11^th centuries CE lived in the areas suitable for wet-rice cultivation, with sufficient supply of water and alluvial soils. It may also be hypothesized, based on the calculation of the amount of rice produced in the floodplain, the density and dates of brick shrines, and the complicated layout and massiveness of the Khao Kha religious complex, that this area between the Tha Khwai, Tha Chieo, and Tha Thon rivers in Sichon District was one of the most significant centers in the Tambralinga Kingdom.