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Home | About the Project | Background | Researchers | Q & A | Photos
 

Read the MMAP Blog:
A Day in the Life of the Archaeologist: A Weblog


 

 

About the Project
 
The purpose of the 2005 MMAP Survey was to explore an area of the left (eastern) bank of the Mekong River in Luang Prabang province, Laos, in mainland Southeast Asia. MMAP archaeologists hypothesized that this area would have abundant evidence of prehistoric settlements, including stone age, neolithic, and metal age sites. Very little is known about prehistoric sites in this 1500-square-kilometer area, so the main purpose of this phase of research was to locate and record the places with the best potential for future in-depth exploration and excavation.

Research in the neighboring countries of Vietnam, China, and Thailand has started to fill in some of the archaeological puzzle-pieces of prehistory in Southeast Asia. However, very little modern archaeological research has been done in Laos despite its central geographic location. The lack of research is due to the disruption of World War II, ongoing regional conflicts and the country's political isolation after the Vietnam War. So the MMAP Survey was also an early opportunity for international teamwork in an untouched area.

The MMAP survey group was a collaboration of U.S., Lao, British, Australian, and Thai colleagues. Two separate teams did rapid surveys of three tributaries of the Mekong River in Luang Prabang province over a one-month period.   The MMAP teams were especially interested in finding likely sites from the middle Holocene period (roughly 6000-2000 BC). This period saw a transition from communities based on game hunting and wild-plant gathering to settlements practicing plant cultivation.

The MMAP Survey returned with a rich variety of data. Using mobile GIS (Geographic Information System) technology, along with digital photography, MMAP was able to evaluate data from many sites, and to do it more efficiently than would have been possible with more traditional recording methods.

Long-term, the Middle Mekong Archaeological Project has an interest in contributing new data to help answer some "big picture" questions about Southeast Asian prehistory.

One of the big puzzles for the region: When, where, and how did Southeast Asian agriculture originate? In other words, what influenced prehistoric groups to change from roaming hunter-gatherers to more settled plant cultivators in this particular part of the world? Were agricultural practices developed somewhere else, brought into the region by people migrating here, and then adopted by local peoples (the "migratory" model)? Or, did local communities develop their own agricultural traditions, independent of extra-regional influences (the "indigenous" development model)? Was it a combination of both kinds of development? And what was the time frame for the transition to agricultural societies?

The bottom line is that we just don't have enough scientific data yet to answer many of these questions for Southeast Asia as a whole. More research is needed, and MMAP thinks the answers will lie in the middle Mekong area.

Photo: Crossing the Mekong to Luang Prabang. February 2001.


Page Not Found | 404 - Penn Museum
Skip to main content.
Open today 10 am – 5 pm

404

Sorry, we couldn't find this page.

This resource may have moved or the link may have been inputted incorrectly.

A group tour.

Events Calendar

Explore amazing art and artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece and Italy, Mesopotamia, Asia, Africa, and the Americas and more at this world renowned museum.

View Events
The Middle East Galleries.

On View

Our galleries celebrate the incredible and diverse accomplishments of people, and many of the objects on display come directly from our own archaeological excavations and anthropological field work.

View Galleries and Exhibitions
The Sphinx.

Online Collections

Explore collections information, images, archival films, and more.

View Collection