Mueang Boran Non Mueang or Non Mueang Ancient Town () was a moated ancient settlement in Chum Phae,

Khon Kaen Khon Kaen (, ) is the capital of Khon Kaen province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, fourth-largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan, Northeast Thailand, also known as the ...

northeastern Thailand Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/, ; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pāli ''isāna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thailand. Isan is T ...

. It was first inhabited around the 8th century BCE and evolved into a complex society in the 7th century during the

Dvaravati Dvaravati () was a medieval Mon political principality from the 6th century to the 11th century, located in the region now known as central Thailand, and was speculated to be a succeeding state of Lang-chia or Lang-ya-hsiu (). It was describe ...

period, then was abandoned around the 12th century. Non Mueang was a supra-regional center of the

civilization, together with Si Thep,

Champasri Champasri () was an ancient settlement located in Ku Santarat Subdistrict, Na Dun district, Maha Sarakham, northeastern Thailand. Found in the 7th century during the Dvaravati period and was abandoned around the 13th century due to the decline ...

, Mueang Fa Daet Song Yang, Dong Mueang Aem, and others, but little known about its political structure. It could have previously been the center of an ancient kingdom. Non Mueang has been listed as an ancient site of Khon Kaen Province since it was discovered in 1970.

Layout and location

Mueang Boran Non Mueang is located in the Chum Phae subdistrict in Khon Kaen province of Thailand. The inner city is an oval-shaped mound covering an area of approximately 27 hectares, surrounded by a 15–40-meter wide moat, whereas the outer city has a 650-meter diameter defined by a 40-meter width moat. However, only the southeast side of the outer moat survives; the rest has been filled in and destroyed, but the furrows remain visible from overhead views. The mound is approximately five meters above the surrounding agricultural fields. The presence of a large moat indicates that the city was the center of smaller communities in the area.

Findings

Archaeological surveys and excavations performed in 1970, 1982–83, and 1991–92 found the site was inhabited since the

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

era; 17 human skeletons dated 2,500 years were burial with tools, and utensils, such as pots and pottery containers with both painted and scratched designs and rope-marked designs, as well as bronze bracelets, animal bone bracelets, shells, colored stone beads, etc. Some

's sandstone Bai Semas were found in the inner city. Small pieces of pottery are scattered across the mound. These pottery pieces were either red painted, scratched, or rope-patterned in the soil layers of the

period (7th-10th centuries). No evidence of burial was found in this layer. The site was continuously occupied during the

Lopburi Lopburi (, , ) is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is about northeast of Bangkok. It has a population of 58,000. The town ('' thesaban mueang'') covers the whole ''tambon'' Tha Hin and parts of Thale Chup Son of Muea ...

period and was abandoned after the 12th century.

References

{{Dvaravati Historical Sites, state=expanded 1st millennium in Thailand States and territories established in the 7th century 7th-century establishments in Thailand