Human dietary patterns provide important insights into past agricultural practices, foodways, and other human–environment interactions. This study presents stable isotope data from four Metal Age sites in central Thailand to examine diet during a formative period of regional prehistory. The results reveal substantial dietary variability within and between sites, particularly in the consumption of C₄ plants, likely foxtail millet—a drought-tolerant C₄ crop that emerged as a significant dietary component in central Thailand more than a millennium before the widespread adoption of rice agriculture in the region. This pattern contrasts with evidence from northeast Thailand, where diets appear to have been more homogeneous and derived primarily from C₃ sources. These findings suggest that communities in central Thailand maintained flexible, broad-spectrum food systems throughout the Metal Age in a region characterized by inconsistent rainfall and persistent drought risk. This study contributes to a growing body of scholarship that has documented the diversity of past dietary patterns in ancient Mainland Southeast Asia, highlighting the role of local environmental conditions in shaping agricultural and dietary practices.

About the Speaker

Dr. Gina Palefsky, Assistant Director of Research, Archaeology Laboratory, Augustana University, studies ancient diets using stable isotope analysis, focusing on Metal Age central Thailand.

Zoom details:

https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/Y2sAPSNYS4q4TwqKvRud1g#/registration