ELIZABETH H. MOORE. Early Landscapes of Myanmar. 272 pages, over 500 colour & b&w illustrations. 2007. Bangkok: River Books (distributed by Thames & Hudson); 978-97-4986-33-12 paperback £22.50.
ELIZABETH H. MOORE. Early Landscapes of Myanmar. 272 pages, over 500 colour & b&w illustrations. 2007. Bangkok: River Books (distributed by Thames & Hudson); 978-97-4986-33-12 paperback £22.50.
Review by Charles Higham
Department of Anthropology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
(Email: charles.higham@stonebow.otago.ac.nz)
To present a coherent account of the prehistory and early history of Myanmar is a monumental challenge. In the early phases of archaeological enquiry, Burma, as the country was then named, was the eastern marches of the vast area covered by the Archaeological Survey of India. Excavations since the country gained independence have concentrated upon the historic early cities. Only in the last decade has a handful of western archaeologists begun to join Burmese archaeologists to explore the later prehistoric sites. For earlier periods we still turn to the findings of H.L. Movius, who surveyed the terraces flanking the Ayeyarwaddy river in 1937-8.
Yet Myanmar is an area vital to a full understanding of Southeast Asian prehistory and Elizabeth Moore's first hand account of its long and stimulating past is a remarkable achievement. The introduction and a chapter on the geography summarise the history of archaeology in Myanmar and the basic pattern of the prehistoric and historic sequence within an environmental framework. To those who have not visited this country, the many illustrations of the terrain emphasise the varied habitats from the forested uplands in the north through the arid centre south to the great deltas. Coherence to this variety is provided by the courses of three great rivers, the Chindwin, Ayeyarwaddy and Thanlwin.
The ensuing four chapters provide narrative accounts of the major phases in Myanmar's past. The first recounts the sequence of Anyathian stone tools. Although none has been found in stratified contexts, their relative chronology can be approached through the raw materials employed and the surfaces on which they were recovered. We are on firmer ground with the late hunter gatherers, for at the Badah-lin rockshelter excavations have revealed a Hoabinhian occupation dated within the period 9000-5000 BC, with parallels to the east, in the Mae Hongson province of Thailand. Similarities extend to the style of the painted animals seen on the cave walls.
The Neolithic period in Southeast Asia is gradually assuming an overall structure. This is based on the evidence of historic linguistics as well as a series of excavations centred in Thailand. The model most used, though not universally accepted, is that agricultural communities expanded south from the seminal rice-growing area centred on the Yangtze valley, reaching Southeast Asia in about 2000 BC. Moore's proposed time span has the Neolithic commencing some time between 3500 and 2500 BC, although there is no radiometric evidence to support this. Indeed, the Neolithic in Myanmar is barely known, and the principal evidence comes from surface finds of polished stone adzes still widely regarded by the rural peasantry as charms with healing properties.
In 1998, excavations on the edge of an extinct volcanic crater at Nyaunggan, lying near the left bank of the Chindwin river, revealed an intact Bronze Age cemetery. This, the first such discovery in the country, attracted widespread interest. The dead were inhumed in a supine position, and accompanied by many ceramic vessels, polished stone rings and bronzes in the form of socketed spears and axes. This region is rich in copper deposits, and local casting is highly likely. Moore has suggested, in the absence of radiocarbon determinations, a context between 1500 and 1000 BC. My more conservative guess is between 800-400 BC. Most unfortunately, the authorities determined to establish a site museum there, and the skeletons and ceramic vessels languish in the ground to deteriorate.
The Nyaunggan finds are a prelude to the remarkable recent discoveries in the Samon valley to the south, where Pautreau and his French team have uncovered at Hnaw Kan, Ywa Htin and Myo Hla Late Bronze and Iron Age burials of great wealth. Dating from about 700 BC, these sites reveal parallels with events in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, where the rising tide of social complexity heralded the swift transition to early states. It is tragic to report that again, the lifting of skeletons in these sites was not permitted, and that after the excavations were completed with only the uppermost finds revealed, local villagers looted the graves. Indeed, most of our information from the Samon sites comes from private collections in which the superb carnelian and agate beads dominate. Mention must also be made of the remarkable bronze mother goddess figures and floral coffin ornaments that have been looted from the Samon cemeteries.
Early states in Southeast Asia suddenly crystallized from such late prehistoric chiefly groups in the early centuries AD. The adoption of Indic religions, languages and architectural forms has led to the term Indianisation, but in reality, we now see the local leaders as being responsible themselves for selectively adopting and adapting foreign influences to enhance their status. In Myanmar, Moore describes the location of the city foundations, and the archaeological finds that allow glimpses into the adoption of Buddhism, the construction in brick of palaces, walls and religious buildings, and the widespread trade and agricultural innovations that provided for material prosperity. The illustrations of the inner palace wall at the city of Sriksetra, or the south-eastern gate of Halin, will emphasise to those unfamiliar with this region, the monumental scale of these early cities and kingdoms.
In keeping with the policy of River Books, this volume is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of colour pictures, and well provided with maps. Ascriptions of so many images to private collections brings home the stark reality of attempting to synthesise a long and rich cultural sequence where so much context has been lost. Dr Moore has succeeded in providing us with a first benchmark for unravelling Myanmar's past. I predict that it will be a standard reference for some time to come.
