Paper short abstract:

Glass Bead is the one of archaeological artifact found in several Dvaravati sites in the Central Region of Thailand. This research analyses glass beads from 14 excavation sites by EPMA and LA-ICP-MS for study the relationship between Dvaravati ancient cities and other sites in the same period.

Paper long abstract:

This research aims to study the chemical elements of the Dvaravati period (6th to the 13th centuries AD) glass beads from 14 excavation sites in the Central Region of Thailand. Electron Probe Micro Analyser (EPMA) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) are applied to analyses the chemical grouping of the glass beads.

The result of chemical analysis showed that the glass beads were categorized in 7 groups based on their chemical elements, which were faience, K, m-Na-Al, m-Na-Ca, Pb, v-Na-Al, and v-Na-Ca. Most of the beads found were m-Na-Al which was related with the Indo-Pacific beads that was also largely found in the same period in Southeast Asian. In addition, the other glass beads could lead to the assumption of bead trading between Southeast Asia and other regions, such as faience and m-Na-Ca beads from the Roman Empire, K beads from India or Southeast Asia, Pb from China, v-Na-AI from the North Sumatra Island and v-Na-Ca from the Middle East.