Ban Rai rockshelter
Basic information
Sample name: Ban Rai rockshelter

Reference: R. Shoocongdej and A. Wattanapituksakul. 2020. Faunal assemblages and demography during the Late Pleistocene (MIS 2-1) to Early Holocene in Highland Pang Mapha, Northwest Thailand. Quaternary International 563:51-63 [ER 3710]
Geography
Country: Thailand

State: Mae Hong Son



Coordinate: 19° 31' N, 98° 31' E
Coordinate basis: based on nearby landmark

Time interval: Holocene

Max Ma: 0.0106

Min Ma: 0.00725

Age basis: radiocarbon (uncalibrated)

Geography comments: "Ban Rai rockshelter is situated on the southern edge of a steep-side river valley, about 2–3 km to the west of the nearest village, Ban Rai, at an elevation of approximately 740–760 m above sea level and 200 m from the present-day location of the Lang River".
Radiocarbon dates for the excavated layers range from 10,600 BP to 7,250 BP.

Environment
Lithology: not described

Taphonomic context: human accumulation,rock shelter,settlement

Archaeology: burials,stone tools

Habitat comments: "The site is located near the summit of a Lower Carboniferous limestone valley and is a circular sinkhole, 105 × 142 m across. The surface of the rockshelter has evidence of a large rock fall and the presence of log coffins, while the eastern wall exhibits rock paintings".
The stratigraphic profile can be characterized by a sequence of two successive settlement phases. The first (Unit 1), represented by the lower part of the sequence, contains no faunal remains nor any lithic assemblages. The second (Unit 2), the upper part of the sequence, "yielded the remains of a human burial and settlement". The lithic assemblage here consists of at least 9,800 items, which include "sumatraliths, short axes, waisted cores and flakes, and utilized cores and flakes".

Methods
Life forms: carnivores,primates,rodents,ungulates,other large mammals,birds,lizards,turtles,fishes

Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash

Sample size: 282 specimens

Years: 2001

Sampling comments: "In 2001, the Highland Archaeology Project selected three areas for excavation, from the center of the rockshelter to the eastern wall: Area 1 (28 m2 trench), Area 2 (24 m2 trench) and Area 3 (16 m2 trench). The largest number of excavated finds originates from Area 3, while Area 1 and Area 2 have far lower densities".
The register below corresponds to the faunal remains uncovered from Area 3, the most recent area of the site, corresponding to the second cultural layer (Unit 2).

Metadata
Sample number: 3927

Contributor: Benjamin Carter

Enterer: Benjamin Carter

Created: 2022-03-25 15:44:24

Modified: 2022-03-25 23:30:52

Abundance distribution
29 species
10 singletons
total count 282
geometric series index: 53.5
Fisher's α: 8.106
geometric series k: 0.8650
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.8954
Shannon's H: 2.6528
Good's u: 0.9646
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
Register
Nycticebus sp.1
Macaca mulatta138.0 kg folivore-frugivore
Macaca arctoides1211 kg
also 231 Macaca sp.
Trachypithecus phayrei16.6 kg
also 69 Colobinae indet.
Hylobatidae indet.10
Ursus thibetanus163 kg browser-frugivore
also 3 "Ursus spp."
Arctonyx collaris1 invertivore
Arctictis binturong110 kg frugivore
Panthera sp.2
also 7 Felidae indet. and 20 Carnivora indet.
Elephas sp.4
Rhinocerotidae indet.10
Sus scrofa1054 kg herbivore
Muntiacus sp.10
Cervus unicolor30100 kg browser-grazer
"Rusa unicolor"; also 16 Cervus sp. "Panolia/Rusa sp."
Axis sp.18
also 6 Cervidae indet.
Bubalus arnee5
Bos gaurus2481 kg
also 6 Bos sp.
Capricornis sumatraensis8118 kg
Callosciurus finlaysonii1
Pteromyini indet.1
Leopoldamys sabanus1338 g frugivore-insectivore
Bandicota sp.2
Rhizomyinae indet.8
Hystricidae indet.17
also 14 Rodentia indet.
Manis sp.1
Aves indet.1
Lacertilia indet.3
Testudines indet.50
Cyprinidae indet.58