| Summary: | This paper compares the later prehistory in two regions of Thailand. The Mun Valley lies on the
eastern side of the Phetchabun Range, the Lopburi Region (LR) to the west. They are linked by a major
pass. While the Lopburi area is rich in copper ore, the Mun Valley has none. Quality salt is abundantly
available in the Mun Valley but less so in the LR. This study explores the inter-relationships between the
areas over a period of 2300 years which sharpens our understanding of both, and presents explanations
and possibilities in the context of cultural transmission theories. Neolithic farmers with ultimate origins
in China, arrived in the first half of the second millennium BC. Widespread exchange in prestige goods
was a factor in the adoption of copper-base metallurgy in the late 11th century BC, when the LR became a
producer, the Mun Valley an importer. With the Iron Age, (from about 500 BC), sites grew in size. During
the course of this period, gold, silver, agate, carnelian and glass ornaments were ritually placed with dead
elites. It is in these powerful and wealthy Iron Age communities that we can identify the early transition
into states with population growth, agricultural intensification, conflict and increased production and
competition over salt and metal for exchange.
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