{"id":18924,"date":"2026-08-15T09:37:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T02:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesiamsociety.org\/?post_type=activity&p=18924"},"modified":"2026-09-26T11:49:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T04:49:48","slug":"pioneering-archaeology-in-laos-the-middle-mekong-archaeological-project","status":"publish","type":"activity","link":"https:\/\/thesiamsociety.org\/th\/activity\/pioneering-archaeology-in-laos-the-middle-mekong-archaeological-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneering archaeology in Laos: The Middle Mekong Archaeological Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_image=”https:\/\/thesiamsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Jurney-to-Southern-cover-E.jpg” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_header _builder_version=”4.27.9″ background_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” background_image=”https:\/\/thesiamsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2026-11-14-Pioneering-archaeology-in-Lao-pic.png” background_size=”contain” background_repeat=”repeat” min_height=”350px” max_height=”500px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” background__hover_enabled=”on|desktop” title_text=”2026-11-14 Pioneering archaeology in Lao-pic” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ collapsed=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ use_custom_gutter=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”|auto|28px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”0px||15px|||” custom_padding_tablet=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding_phone=”0px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ module_class=”second-on-mobile” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding_tablet=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_blurb url=”\/lectures\/” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”H||divi||400″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”24px” _builder_version=”4.16″ body_font=”|700|||||||” link_option_url=”\/lectures\/” icon_font_size=”24px” global_colors_info=”{}” body_text_color__hover_enabled=”on|hover” body_text_color__hover=”rgba(29,39,49,0.7)”]Back to Lectures[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text admin_label=”Pre-header message” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_css_main_element=”text-align: left;” text_text_align=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoiY3VzdG9tX21ldGFfcHJlLWhlYWRlcl9tZXNzYWdlIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJlbmFibGVfaHRtbCI6Im9uIn19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Lecture Topic Heading” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” header_text_color=”#8e794c” max_width_tablet=”90%” max_width_phone=”100%” max_width_last_edited=”off|desktop” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||62px|||” custom_padding=”||30px||false|false” module_alignment_last_edited=”off|tablet” custom_css_main_element=”text-align: left;” border_width_bottom=”1px” border_color_bottom=”#dbd3d8″ text_text_align=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90aXRsZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7ImJlZm9yZSI6IjxoMT4iLCJhZnRlciI6IjwvaDE+In19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ text_font=”||||||||” header_font=”||||||||” width=”100%” custom_margin=”||40px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”50px||||false|false” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

When the Lao People\u2019s Democratic Republic began opening up to the wider world in the late 1980s and 1990s, possibilities slowly emerged for non\u2013Lao archaeologists to start joint research programs under the umbrella of the Ministry of Information and Culture, as that ministry was named at that time. Since so little scientific archaeology had ever been undertaken on the Lao side of the Mekong Basin, the possibility of conducting modern archaeological research in this terra incognita was both exciting and daunting. What new cultures awaited discovery across the Mekong River from Thailand? What answers to long\u2013standing questions on the origins of metallurgy, agriculture, and even Thai and Lao peoples might be revealed? While archaeology is not a discipline that produces answers quickly, the process of exploration in pursuit of answers is intriguing in and of itself. The Middle Mekong Archaeological Project (MMAP) emerged from a 2\u2013week trip to Laos I undertook in 2001. A 2.5\u2013day visit to Luang Prabang revealed evidence for more than 10,000 years of human use of that landscape. This extraordinary richness led to joint work with the Lao Heritage Department, still ongoing, constellated in part to address questions that were raised by the Ban Chiang Project and other archaeological work in Thailand. While many mysteries remain, unanticipated insights for the Plain of Jars have come to light, and surprise evidence for a middle Holocene (8,200\u20134,200 years ago) megadrought, and new evidence from ceramics studies for Luang Prabang\u2019s historic connections to East Asian economic networks are some of the discoveries made so far by the MMAP research program that will be discussed during the presentation.<\/p>\n

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Joyce White, PhD <\/strong>University of Pennsylvania) is an archaeologist specializing in Thai and Lao prehistory. She has recently published with collaborators a four\u2013volume monograph on the ancient metallurgy of Ban Chiang and related sites for the Penn Museum\u2019s Thai Archaeology Monograph series. She has had various positions with the University of Pennsylvania Museum, is currently there a Consulting Scholar directing the museum\u2019s Ban Chiang Project, and since 2013 has been the Executive Director of the Institute for Southeast Asian Archaeology https:\/\/iseaarchaeology.org\/. A forthcoming article in the Journal of the Siam Society will discuss her work with the United States\u2019 large\u2013scale investigation called Operation Antiquity of smuggling of Ban Chiang antiquities.<\/p>\n

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Saturday, 14 November 2026 at 10:00 \u2013 12.00<\/p>\n

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More upcoming lectures<\/h2>\n

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