The case for proto-Dvaravati: A review of the art historical and archaeological evidence

Murphy, Stephen A

Abstract

The mid-first millennium CE represents a crucial period in the emergence of early polities in Southeast Asia. However, disagreement remains between archaeologists and art historians as to the precise dating of this shift from prehistory to history. This article focuses on the Dvaravati period and re-evaluates evidence in Thai and Western language publications. A growing number of sites excavated over the past two decades in particular show occupation from c. the fourth to fifth century onwards while others provide a continual sequence stretching back well into the Iron Age. I argue that evidence from these sites makes a strong case for postulating a proto-Dvaravati period spanning c. the fourth to fifth centuries. In doing so this article proposes this period as the timeframe within which the nascent traits and characteristics of what becomes Dvaravati in the seventh to ninth centuries are present and gradually developing.

Citation

Murphy, S. A. (2016). The case for proto-Dvaravati: A review of the art historical and archaeological evidence. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 47(3), 366-392. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463416000242

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 26, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Sep 26, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Dec 4, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 4, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
• Print ISSN: 0022-4634
• Electronic ISSN: 1474-0680
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 366-392
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463416000242
• Keywords: Dvaravati, Thailand, Southeast Asian, Archaeology, Buddhism