Copper mining and smelting at Phu Lon
Minería y fundición de cobre de Phu Lon
- Date
- c. 1000 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Phu Lon, Nong Khai, Thailand
- Credited to
- Bronze Age communities of north-east Thailand
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A copper mine in the Mekong hills, with tunnels, slag and furnaces, which supplied metal to the Khorat plateau and Lao settlements. It shows organised mining in the Southeast Asian Bronze Age.
The chronology of Phu Lon rests on few radiocarbon dates and its exact age and relation to Ban Chiang are debated. Dates range from c. 1400 BC to c. 500 BC depending on the author.
What it led to
- bronze alloys at Ban Chiang and Non Nok Tha
- exchange of copper ingots in the Mekong basin
- debate over the autonomy of Southeast Asian bronze