The dissertation presents the stable isotopes analysis of carbon and nitrogen of the 178 human skeletal remains from Metal Age archaeological sites in northeast Thailand, approximately dated to 1,500-4,000 BP. These archaeological sites are Ban Chiang and Ban Na Di, Udon Thani Province in the Sakon Nakhon Basin, and Ban Lum Khao and Noen U-Loke, Nakhon Ratchasima Province in the Khorat Basin. Including the sample of the modern plants and animals were collected from the north and northeast Thailand.
The two main hypothesizes of this research are to firstly, the transition to a more arid climate and intensive agriculture between the Bronze to the Iron Age, approximately 2,000 to 3,000 BP. changed their consumer behavior and diets over time. And secondly, the differences in diet between sexes within a population can be related to social status and organization, while the differences in dietary intake between the populations reveal the possibility of the varied cultures.
The research findings are as follows: the populations from 1,000-3,000 BP. in this area had consumed carbohydrate from C3 plants, and protein from C3 terrestrial animals and freshwater fish. And the behavior had changed to ingest more protein from terrestrial-domesticated animals when the intensive agriculture appeared. During the second millennium BCE, females had consumed protein from varied sources more than males. During the first millennium BCE, there was clear evidence suggests females had changed their behavior to consumption of open field carbohydrate foods and protein from either fish and carnivorous animals, while males likely to intake protein from domesticated animals more than protein foods from hunting games.
