Ban Chiang National Museum – Udon Thani

An excellent archaeological site that is under the UNESCO World Heritage Act so it is funded well. It is about 45 minutes out of Udon. It is a mostly an air-conditioned museum with state of the art interpretation. Incredible artifacts and surprising history of bronze implements as well as the 6 phases of pottery…

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Ban Chiang is considered the most important prehistoric settlement so far discovered in Southeast Asia. The site shows an important stage in human cultural, social and technological evolution, with some of the earliest evidence of wet-rice agriculture and domestication of cattle, pigs and chickens in the region as well as early examples of the manufacture and use of metals. Many of these artifacts and the stories behind them are on display at Ban Chiang National Museum.

Ban Chiang is considered one of the most significant archaeological sites in Southeast Asia and was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1992. Excavations at a large, oval mound at the site uncovered pre-historic artifacts, especially pottery and bronze implements. Since the discovery of the site in 1966, the dating of Ban Chiang artifacts has been adjusted and refined over time in line with advances in the understanding and techniques of radiometric dating. This research has revealed that the site dates to as early as 3,500 years ago and that the site was continuously occupied for at least 2,000 years. The discoveries at the site, from both Neolithic and Bronze Age civilizations, have shown it has long been a habitation and burial site.

Opens at 8:00 AM – 5.00 PM  everyday…..