Grave size and social distinction: the case of Ban Non Wat

Abstract Ban Non Wat is the most extensively excavated later prehistoric site in mainland Southeast Asia. The cultural sequence under review began in ca. 1700 BCE with occupation and associated human burials representing hunter gatherers and incoming Neolithic farmers. Thereafter, there was a second Neolithic phase followed by six ascribed to the Bronze Age and one to the initial Iron Age. Each has yielded human burials with a total nearing 700. This paper applies a novel analysis based on the area of each grave set against the number of ceramic vessels that each contained. In presenting the results based on these data, the sex and age of each individual interred are reviewed, together with other potentially significant mortuary offerings and rituals. It is found that there was a marked rise in social elites during the early Bronze Age, followed by a lack of social distinctions represented in the rituals of death, other than the occasional individual, in all later 2018phases.