The Human Environment During the Terminal Pleistocene and Holocene in Northeastern Thailand: Phytolith Evidence from Lake Kumphawapi

Regional environmental reconstruction is used to address the issue of human environmental relationships in northeastern Thailand from the Late Pleistocene through the Mid-Holocene. A 6.18 m core from Lake Kumphawapi was analyzed for phytoliths, and reveals a long sequence of complex climatic, geomorphological, and cultural changes in the landscape. Distinctive fluctuations in vegetation, as well as direct evidence from burned phytoliths, suggests broadcast burning of the mixed deciduous-dry deciduous forest began early in the Holocene. Subsistence strategies changed, often cyclically, until the Mid-Holocene when indirect evidence indicates agriculture became increasingly important and burning declined initially, shifting to vegetation commonly found in rice fields. The patterning and chronology of these data suggest that current models of agricultural development for the region need to be reevaluated. KEYWORDS: subsistence, palaeoenvironment, phytoliths, rice, burning, Thailand, Southeast Asia.