Thailand’s gilded roots

Anna Bennett's fascination with the foundations of civilisation in what became Thailand has carried her from bachelor’s degree to doctorate and, now, authorship of a book. 

“The Ancient History of U Thong, City of Gold” is the culmination of 32 years of effort by the British archaeologist, which centred on excavations in the district in Suphan Buri as well as her speciality – precious gold and its role in underwriting the spread of civilisation.

His Majesty the King was evoking Thailand’s precious past when he suggested the name Suvarnabhumi for Bangkok’s second airport. This land was once known as the Kingdom of Gold. And here now is more evidence that the title was well deserved.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree and PhD in the science from the University of London, considerable experience in verifying the providence of artwork for museums, and a hand-held X-ray fluorescence analyser, Bennett has come full |circle on a mission that began |with scouring old U Thong for |buried gold. 

You can read all about it in her book – the first one about U Thong’s treasures in English. It’s copiously illustrated with photos of the dig sites, the people still uncovering the relics, the magnificent finds themselves, and her discoveries as seen through a microscope.

“I was asked to look at very ancient gold – six to seven centuries old – at the U Thong National Museum, in private collections and the collection at the National Museum in Bangkok and also to conduct some workshops,” Bennett says. “This book is the outcome.”

The request came from Dr Bunchar Pongpanich of the Buddhadasa Indapanno Archives, whom she met at a World Heritage conference in India last February. Bunchar has extensive knowledge of Thai archaeology. The final incentive for the book came from the government-backed agency DASTA – the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration – which is promoting U Thong as a travel destination, in part because of its gilded history. 

“The Ancient History of U Thong” follows another, more academic work, released last year, entitled “U Thong Awaits Its Revival: The Tracing of Beads and Early Buddhism in the Basin of the River Mae Klong and Ta Chine”. Bunchar’s archival group and leading Thai academics contributed to that volume, which is primarily in Thai. Bennett’s book, entirely in English, should do 

 its part in boosting tourism in the area.

“The book demonstrates how important U Thong is as an archaeology site and it will reach a wider audience,” she says. “It’s designed to help educate tourists, so it’s not complicated – it’s quite straightforward, with many colour photos, which for me is very important because an image can tell much more than words.”

Sixth-century U Thong might have been the capital of a kingdom, Bennett says. 

“It was the most important city in that river basin for traders and merchants. U Thong was linked to the wider world through a very elaborate system of trade via rivers and canals. The area was rich in minerals and forest products, which were traded 

 out to India and China. We have evidence of trade taking place as far back as 400 BC.”

A consultant in high demand in the fields of archaeological science and conservation, Bennett has worked for the Getty Museum, English Heritage, the Los Angeles County Museum and others. In 1989 in London she founded the private firm Conservation and Technical Service, which is affiliated with the Centre for the Scientific Investigation of Works of Arts. If you have something in need of assessment, her fee is 1,500 euro per day, but she’s pitched in on the DASTA project free of charge – in exchange for the book’s publication. 

Bennett’s enthusiasm for Thailand’s archaeological possibilities extends beyond U Thong. She’s 

 worked on sites in Lopburi and occasionally consults for the Unesco office in Bangkok. On her most recent return visit she was re-examining the proto-historic artefacts at the U Thong National Museum, which she and her then-professor, Ian Glover, unearthed at Ban Don Ta Phet in the area in 1984.

The hi-tech equipment that’s become available since then makes fresh discoveries possible by revealing more about the materials used. Among other new insights, Bennett determined that U Thong was an important tin-trading centre in the region.

Among the dozens of gold pieces at the museum, dating as far back as seven centuries, are the remarkable head and leg fragment of a Buddha 

 statue and a Dvaravati-era pendant.

Bennett was particularly excited to study the private collection of Dvaravati gold artefacts belonging to Suphanburi resident Suriya Surapanich.

“I was really surprised that Suriya recognised me from the excavation site at Ban Don Ta Phet,” she laughs. “But I was so glad he’d brought me his valuable collection to examine.”

The pieces include a granulated ear ornament and rings for the hair and fingers. Many of them are in good condition. Bennett put them under her high-powered microscope and was able to document the manufacturing methods and evidence of use and repair. The objects were weighed and a surface-ray fluorescence analyser determined their elemental composition.

Other artefacts detailed in the book belong to Bunchar’s Bangkok-based SuthiRatana Foundation, some of which were unearthed in Khao Sam Kaeo in Chumpon as well as in the South. 

Two millennia ago gold came to the nascent Siam from India and China, along with the utensils and methods needed to forge and work metals. Hinduism and Buddhism came too, and monasteries were often strategically located close to trade routes. Their adjacent populations formed hungry markets |for “exotic goods”. Bennett writes, “creating an expanding economic order that connected ancient production and trading centres across the whole Asia”. 

 

ORIGINS OF SUVARNABHUMI

-“The Ancient History of U Thong City of Gold” by Anna Bennett, published (in English) by River Books, will be available in stores next month. 

- Pre-orders can be made at www.RiverBooksBk.com.