Unearthing the Ceramic Traditions of the Middle Mekong: Multi-analytical Study of Earthenwares and Stonewares from Luang Prabang, Lao PDR

Marie-Claude Boileau1*, James Davenport2, Joyce White3, Naho Shimizu4, and Souliya Bounxaythip5

Surface surveys and test excavations conducted by the Middle Mekong Archaeological Project on the left bank of the Mekong River in Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR, have revealed a rich history of human activity. The recovery of thousands of ceramics, mostly earthenware, but also stoneware, provides an important foundational assemblage from which scientific analyses can begin to piece together the economic and technological dimensions of past societies of this important region. While trade ceramics show connections extending to the broader region from the 12th to 19th centuries CE, the production and exchange of unglazed stonewares, as well as earthenwares from earlier periods, remain poorly understood. A pilot program using petrographic analysis and neutron activation analysis has recently been initiated to address overarching questions of diachronic variation and continuity in ceramic technology across the tributary rivers flowing into the Mekong. In this paper, we report on preliminary findings and, in line with the session's goals, will also discuss how, despite the challenge of interpreting analytical data from contexts with limited scientific dating and in the absence of regional reference datasets, the analytical program provides a baseline for understanding regional connectivity within the Middle Mekong and offers a long-term perspective on ceramic traditions in northern Laos.