Ban Non Wat

Ban Non Wat is a village in central Thailand, in the Non Sung district, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, located near the small city of Phimai. It has been the subject of recent (2002-present) excavation of what are thought to be late neolithic and early bronze age burials. The village is thought to have been consistently habitated for at least four thousand years.

The excavations are being run by Charles Higham and partially funded by the Earthwatch institute, and are considered by some to be amongst the richest archaeological digs under current excavation. The discovery of a superburial on the site has yielded a wealth of artifacts, especially grave goods, and is a source of continued interest.

The rice fields surrounding the village, although yet to be exhaustively studied, are thought to have been irrigated thousands of years ago, and preliminary dating has supported this theory.

Many of the artifacts recovered have suggested an ongoing link with the Khmer culture, unsurprising given the site's proximity to one end of the Ancient Khmer Highway, at the Phimai Historical Park. Much of the earlier Bronze Age technology is thought to have come from trade routes from southern China.