1

Towards an Integrated Socio-Ecological History for Residential

Patterning, Agricultural Practices, and Water Management at the Classical

Burmese (Bama) Capital of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to 14th Centuries CE)

By

Gyles Iannone

(Trent University)

Pyiet Phyo Kyaw

(Mandalay University)

And

Scott Macrae

(Trent University)

Paper presented at the 84th annual meeting of the

Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque (2019)

The IRAW@Bagan project is striving to generate an integrated socio-ecological history for

residential patterning, agricultural practices, and water management at the Classical Burmese

(Bama) capital of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to 14th centuries CE) across a range of significant

ecological, climatic, economic, socio-political, and religious changes. This objective is being

achieved through a settlement archaeology study within the peri-urban (mixed urban-rural)

settlement zone immediately surrounding Bagan’s regal-ritual epicenter, which is still clearly

defined by remnants of its original walls and moat. The importance of our ongoing program of

survey, excavations, and geo-spatial inquiry is grounded in the fact that our current

understanding of Bagan society continues to be biased towards its upper echelons, namely its

high-ranking nobles and religious institutions. Our program of settlement archaeology will

ultimately: 1) generate a more nuanced understanding of Bagan as a dynamic capital city; 2)

provide insights into the unique characteristics of early urbanism in the tropics; and, 3)

contribute to considerations of resilience and vulnerability in contemporary tropical

metropolises.

Given their potential for enhancing our understanding of past societies, it is surprising that

the settlement patterns and residential architecture of the classical period polities of Southeast

Asia have rarely received any focused attention (Miksic and Goh 2017:26, 358). Indeed, Charles

Higham (2017:369) opens his recent chapter on The Prehistoric House: A Missing Factor in

Southeast Asia, by lamenting that: “Excavations in Mainland Southeast Asia have yet to reveal a

single complete house plan, yet the potential of residential archaeology to illuminate social

change…is emphasized by recent research in other parts of the world.” The truth of the matter is

that, other than a few exceptions – namely the investigations by John Miksic (2012) and his team

at Trowulan, and Miriam Stark and her colleagues in the Greater Angkor region (Carter et al.

2018; Stark et al. 2015; see also Bâty 2005, 2010; Ea Darith, and Kyle Latinis 2017) –

2

archaeological research designs across Southeast Asia continue to disregard the potential of

settlement pattern studies.

The lack of attention paid to settlement patterns and vernacular architecture undoubtedly

reflects a long-standing partiality towards elite-focused art, architecture, epigraphy, and

historical narratives. Beyond the obvious intellectual draw of the written word, and the aesthetic

appeal of art and architecture, this traditional approach to knowledge creation continues to be

perpetuated because the more mundane houses and material culture inventories indicative of

domestic life in the world’s tropical zones – for both elites and commoners alike – are simply

considered less interesting, and they tend to be highly perishable, and thus less likely to preserve

in the archaeological record. These conceptual and taphonomic biases do not, however, diminish

the fact that, should we truly desire to reconstruct the nature of the region’s classical polities –

especially their socio-economic systems, demographic trajectories, political hierarchies, socio-

spiritual structures, and urban footprints – it is crucial to build a detailed understanding of their

support populations. How, one might ask, are we to fully assess the explanatory potential of the

much-ballyhooed concept of dispersed or low-density urbanism (e.g., Fletcher 2009, 2012;

Wheatley 1971, 1983) without any real material evidence concerning the residential

neighborhoods we presume were the basic building blocks of the vast peri-urban zones of the

pre-industrial cities under consideration? Surely the idealized perceptions of such communities

that have been formed using the elite-centric inscriptions, chronicles, architectural

embellishments, and artworks cannot be deemed sufficient to meet such a challenge?

In efforts to help fill this gap in our understanding, the IRAW@Bagan project was developed

with the explicit goal of generating an integrated socio-ecological history for residential

patterning, agricultural practices, and water management at the classical Burmese (Bama) capital

of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to 14th century CE; Figure 1). This objective is being achieved

through a settlement archaeology study within the peri-urban, or mixed urban-rural, settlement

zone immediately surrounding Bagan’s regal-ritual epicenter (Figure 2), which is still clearly

defined by remnants of its original walls and moat (Figure 3). The importance of the proposed

program of survey, excavations, and geo-spatial inquiry is grounded in the fact that our current

understanding of Bagan society continues to be biased towards its upper echelons, namely its

high-ranking nobles and religious functionaries. A settlement archaeology study within Bagan’s

peri-urban zone will: 1) generate a more nuanced understanding of Bagan as a dynamic capital

city; 2) provide insights into the unique characteristics of early urbanism in the tropics; and, 3)

contribute to considerations of resilience and vulnerability in contemporary tropical

metropolises.

The IRAW@Bagan Approach to Settlement Archaeology

The principal datasets that have been successfully used to craft integrated socio-ecological

histories in our earlier Socio-ecological Entanglement in Tropical Societies (SETS) project

(Iannone 2014a, 2014b, 2015, 2016; Iannone et al. 2015) are once again serving as the primary

focus of the three sub-projects at the base of the IRAW@Bagan settlement archaeology study:

residential patterning, agricultural practices, and water management. These sub-projects are

employing a range of tools and approaches to achieve their goals, including systematic ground

reconnaissance and surface exposure assessments, remote sensing (i.e., drone imagery),

geospatial and landscape analysis (GIS), horizontal and vertical excavations, collection and

analysis of palaeoenvironmental ecofacts, detailed analysis of architecture, art historical imagery,

3

and artifacts, ethnoarchaeological observation and analogy building, ethnographic and

ethnohistoric information, considerations of epigraphic materials and historical narratives, and

extensive literature reviews.

Figure 1. Map of Southeast Asia showing the location of Bagan and a number of the

contemporaneous capitals of the classical era.

Figure 2. The area encompassing Bagan’s peri-urban settlement zone, currently under

investigation by the IRAW@Bagan research team.

4

Figure 3. Tharaba Gate (left) and adjacent moat (right), part of Bagan’s walled epicenter.

The Residential Patterning Sub-Project

The Bagan epicenter, as is true for other historic Myanma capitals, was an “exemplary”

center that was imbued with cosmological and regal-ritual significance, at the same time that it

was home to royals, nobles, military leaders, guards, servants, and elite craft workers (Aung-

Thwin 1985:50-51, 1987:88, 94-98; Aung-Thwin and Aung-Thwin 2012:81, 100-101; Daw Thin

Kyi 1966:187; Hudson 2004:221; Kan Hla 1977:21). That said, Bagan’s epicenter clearly

“represents an elite core, not an urban boundary” (Hudson 2004:221), given that a dense

amalgamation of brick temple complexes, stupas, and monasteries extends out and away from

the walled enclosure in all directions, thereby forming an extensive peri-urban settlement zone

exhibiting a mixed urban-rural character (see also Aung-Thwin and Aung-Thwin 2012:101; Kan

Hla 1977:21; Luce 1969:229). Most of these monuments were constructed during Bagan’s

florescence (Hudson 2004:236), with the basic spatial extent of the peri-urban zone having been

established by the end of the 11th century CE (Kan Hla 1977:18). By the end of the 13th century,

the city of Bagan covered around 80 km2 (Grave and Barbetti 2001:75; Hudson 2004:237;

Hudson et al. 2001:48; Moore et al. 2016:294; Pichard 1992-2003; c.f., Aung-Thwin and Aung-

Thwin 2012:91), and encompassed at least 2200 brick temples (Hudson 2004:236; Kan Hla

1977:15), and possibly as many as four thousand (Aung-Thwin 1985:169; Kan Hla 1977:15;

Pichard 1992-2003).

It is generally assumed that Bagan’s peri-urban zone was home to a diverse support

population (Daw Thin Kyi 1966:187; Hudson et al. 2001:70; Miksic 2001:100; Strachan 1989:7),

but we know very little about the settlement patterning associated within this city-scape. Through

survey, horizontal and vertical excavations, and detailed artifact analysis, the residential

patterning sub-project is examining the temporal and spatial aspects of Bagan’s peri-urban

settlement zone to assess how its residents and their varied activities were distributed across the

landscape, over both time and space. These investigations are building upon on the initial

settlement survey and collateral excavations conducted by Bob Hudson (2004:245) and his

colleagues (Hudson et al. 2001), which suggested that certain concentrations of small

monuments dating to the 11th to 13th centuries may be indicative of the presence of peri-urban

settlement clusters (Hudson 2004:212, 245-266, 247; Hudson et al. 2001:62, Figure 9). Indeed,

this settlement clustering is argued to have been instrumental to the development of Bagan’s

urban footprint (Hudson 2004:219-220). Such findings are consistent with what has been

referred to elsewhere in the tropics as “urban clustering” (Isendahl 2010:545; Isendahl and Smith

5

2013:133; Mcintosh 1991, 2005; McIntosh and McIntosh 2003; Smith 2011:51, 54), a residential

settlement pattern often associated with dispersed (Iannone 2015:251-252; Wheatley 1971, 1983)

or “low-density” urbanism (Barthel and Isendahl 2013:227; Chase et al. 2011; Fletcher 2009,

2012; Isendahl 2010; Isendahl and Smith 2013; Lucero et al. 2015; Scarborough et al. 2012;

Scarborough and Lucero 2010; Sinclair 2010:24; Smith 2010a:234, 2010b:145, 2012:16;

Waldheim 2010:4-5). Given that they would have been situated within a distinctly mixed urban-

rural city-scape, such clusters are best conceived of as “neighborhoods” rather than “villages”

(Smith 2010b, 2011), the latter being more indicative of districts that are purely rural in

character.

Considering the preliminary nature of our investigations, the immediate goals of the

residential patterning sub-project are simply to find ancient living surfaces, and to ideally reveal

the ancient city’s first complete house plans. As is common practice in such “exploratory”

situations, our initial investigations are employing non-probabilistic (purposive/judgmental)

sampling methods to enhance the potential for finding buried residential features (Banning

2002:28-29; French 2015:21). This sampling strategy has been informed by prior archaeological

observations concerning the possible locations of settlement clusters at Bagan (Hudson

2004:208-220, 234--266; Hudson et al. 2001:53-62). Guided by this knowledge, preliminary

surface reconnaissance in May 2017 resulted in the discovery of four possible residential

neighborhoods (PRN), based on the presence of comparatively high-density surface scatters

(HDSS) of ceramics: 1) Shwe Creek, 2) Otein Taung, 3) South Wall, and, 4) Kiln #4 (Figure 4).

Beginning in May 2019, quadrant-based surface collection of diagnostic sherds and special finds

will be initiated at these four loci (Figure 5), in conjunction with sub-surface testing using paired

1 x 4 m excavation trenches (Figure 6). Pending the results of the test trenches, larger 4 x 4 m

horizontal exposures will be used to examine any evidence for buried residential features, such

as posthole configurations.

Figure 4. The location of the four possible residential neighborhoods to be tested by

IRAW@Bagan (note the extensive field system covering the area).

6

Figure 5. Quadrant based collection area for Shwe Creek (left) and Otein Taung (right).

Figure 6. Test trench excavation plans for Shwe Creek (left) and Otein Taung (right).

Our four test excavations sites will also be used to anchor four 200 m wide survey transects

of varying length (Figure 7). These will bisect Bagan’s peri-urban settlement zone. The GPS-

guided pedestrian survey of these transects will emphasize the rapid and efficient identification

of other locales deemed indicative of possible residential neighborhoods. This will be

accomplished through the discovery and documentation of additional high-density surface

scatters (HDSS) of artifacts, defined as those that meet or exceed a minimal density criteria

(MDC) of 25 artifacts per square meter, over a contiguous area of at least 100 square meters.

Each transect will be divided into a series of survey lines spaced 10 m apart. These will be

assigned a unique, sequential designation and digitized over satellite imagery. Individual field

walkers will progress along their designated survey lines in increments of 50 m, completing what

is referred to as a 50 x 10 m transect unit (TU). These transect units will form the basic spatial

unit for data recording along each of the transects. The transect survey will be facilitated by

scheduling our fieldwork in May, coinciding with the end of the dry season and the time when

ground cover at Bagan is particularly sparse. The findings from this reconnaissance program will

be used to determine the locations for future residential neighborhood test excavations.

Agricultural Practices Sub-Project

The agricultural practices sub-project is building upon earlier assessments of Bagan’s

agricultural capacity carried out by Michael Aung-Thwin (1990). Given the palimpsest quality of

agricultural field systems, it will be necessary to use remote sensing data, geospatial analysis,

sub-surface testing and sediment analysis, historic and art historical data, and both ethnographic

and ethnoarchaeological observations to build an understanding of Bagan’s relic field system

(see Figure 4). Such assessments will be augmented by palynological analyses and

ethnobotanical studies. Of interest is the fact that risk husks incorporated in clay bricks have

7

been used to assess the types of rice grown in Bagan’s major cultivation zones, with over 95.8%

of the samples recovered representing the round (Japonica) variety (Aung-Thwin 1990:8). Also

of methodological relevance is recent GIS research in Cambodia, where the geometric

differences in bunded rice paddy orientations, and their spatial orientations to datable Angkorian

temples, canals, ponds, water tanks (barays), or roads have been used to develop a temporally

sensitive model for localized land-use strategies at the former Khmer capital (Bâty 2005;

Hawken 2013; Pottier 2000:111-112, 2012:19-20). A similar analysis will be attempted at

Bagan, although our approach will also involve the excavation of certain agricultural features to

determine construction techniques, usage patterns, and chronology. Finally, our study of

agricultural practices at Bagan will also consider the impacts of the precipitation regimes

associated with the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, 900-1300 CE) and the subsequent Little

Ice Age (LIA; 1300-1570 CE), as these would have conditioned the agricultural potential of

Myanmar’s Dry Zone (e.g., Lieberman 2003:103-112, 2009:330, 792, 2011:939; Lieberman and

Buckley 2012:1052; Mackenzie 1915:44).

Figure 7. Configuration of the IRAW@Bagan settlement survey transects (each transect is 200 m

wide and divided into a series of 50 x 10 m recording units, referred to as “Transect Units”).

The Water Management Sub-Project

Our water management sub-project is striving to reconstruct the relic water management

system associated with Bagan’s peri-urban settlement zone. Access to water was an endemic

issue at Bagan (Cooler 1997; Luce 1969:7) – given its Dry Zone location – and the inscriptions

and chronicles inform us that most kings attempted to augment the city’s water supply through

the construction of brick wells, dams, canals, and brick or stone-lined holding tanks (Kan Hla

8

1977:22; Luce 1969:76, 84, 256; Pe Muang Tin and Luce 1923:65, 131; Stargardt 1968:360-

361). Although some of these features are still active, or at least discernable on the landscape,

many are likely obscured from view as a result of having been silted up (Hudson 2004:2, 266).

Be that as it may, recent examinations of Bagan’s water management system, carried out by

Elizabeth Moore and colleagues (Moore et al. 2016) and Win Kyaing (2016, 2018), have

indicated that Bagan’s peri-urban zone contains remnants of a complex and extensive, yet

comparatively “small-scale” water management system comprised of seasonal ponds, streams,

canals, formal tanks, deliberately positioned and planned temple complexes, and the moat

surrounding the epicenter (Moore et al. 2016:285, 294-300, 302; see also Cooler 1997:22-23).

Our own investigations have included preliminary visitations to many of the known water

management features in the peri-urban zone in May 2017 (Figure 8), and the mapping and

excavation of water management features in the Tuyin-Thetso uplands (Figure 9) – including Nat

Yekan sacred water tank – in May 2018 (Iannone et al. 2019). This highland area seems to have

served as the literal and spiritual source for the rest of Bagan’s peri-urban water management

system (Iannone et al. 2019; Luce 1969:76 345; Moore et al. 2016:285, 295; Ni Tut 2013; Nyan

Hlaing Lynn 2017; Win Kyaing 2016, 2018).

Figure 8. Location of the major water management features visited by the IRAW@Bagan team,

including those located on the Tuyin-Thetsoe Range (e.g., Nat Yekan Tank), which have

undergone extensive mapping and test excavations.

Our ongoing modelling of Bagan’s broader water management system is being carried out

using a GIS-based hydrological approach (Arc Hydro [see Maidment 2002]; ArcGIS [ESRI

2016]), and includes analysis of the direction of flow, flow accumulation, and watershed

delineation (see Macrae 2017:214-225; Macrae and Iannone 2016:374-388). These hydrological

characteristics are providing information concerning the interconnectivity of naturally occurring

features – such as slopes, streams, and seasonal ponds – and cultural features, including

9

reservoirs, canals, weirs, and moats. The previously discussed transect survey program will be

instrumental in collecting data for this modelling exercise, with field walkers being charged with

recording information pertaining to the location, size, character, and interconnectivity of

different components of the water management system. Excavation of select water management

features will augment our understanding the system’s development and functionality. In

considering how these various components of the water management system may have worked

together to sustain Bagan’s urban population, it will again be crucial to retrodict the positive

impacts that the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, 900-1300 CE) would have had likely had on

the Dry Zone’s precipitation regime (e.g., Lieberman 2003:103-112, 2009:330, 792, 2011:939;

Lieberman and Buckley 2012:1052; Mackenzie 1915:44).

Figure 9. The water management system of the Thetso-Taung Ridge.

10

Supplementary Data Sets

Our unabashedly orthodox settlement archaeology program is being augmented by insights

concerning residential patterning, agricultural practices, and water management gleaned from

relevant ethnographic and ethnohistoric studies (Aung-Thwin 1990; Oo et al. 2003; Freestone

1974; Leach 1977; Sparkes and Howell 2003; Spate 1945; see also Dumarçay 1987) and our own

ethnoarchaeological field work conducted in 2017 and 2018 in ten traditional villages located in

and around Bagan’s monument zone (Iannone et al. 2017, 2018). Additional data are being

generated through the consideration of relevant inscriptions (Blagden 1923; Duroiselle 1920,

1921a, 1921b, 1923; Frasch 2014; Taw Sein Ko 1899; Taw Sein Ko and Duroiselle 1919; U Mya

1934), retrospective chronicles (Luce 1969; Pe Muang Tin and Luce 1923), and Bagan’s visual

arts (Pyiet Phyo Kyaw 2017). These diverse data sets are not only proving useful in terms of

guiding our field-based search for potential neighborhood clusters, agricultural field systems, and

water management features, but also with respect to helping us “flesh out” our understanding of

past lifeways at classical Bagan.

Conclusions

Our settlement archaeology study at Bagan is clearly in its initial stages, and we have yet to

generate any substantive insights concerning the character of classical Bagan’s peri-urban city-

scape. That said, when trudging around Bagan’s contemporary monument zone one is a

constantly reminded of how expansive, varied, and dynamic this pre-industrial metropolis once

was. Bagan was, and continues to be, a special place to conduct archaeology. As with any

ancient urban center, it also provides some unique challenges for a settlement archaeology

project such as ours. As noted by Bob Hudson (2004:220) many years ago, when it comes to the

archaeological investigation of Bagan: “There are physical problems due to the density of the

existing buildings, which simply does not permit excavation.” In addition, any settlement

archaeology project must also consider the presence of open-air museums, myriad pilgrimage

centers, multiple towns and villages, including some with densely populated residential areas and

commercial zones (Hudson 2004:246). Be that as it may, our research design has taken all these

issues into consideration, and we believe we have been able to frame an effective, long-term

settlement archaeology program for Bagan’s peri-urban zone that will ultimately produce

tangible, and useful results.

Acknowledgements. We express our gratitude to both the Ministry of Religious Affairs and

Culture and the Department of Archaeology and the National Museum for allowing us to carry

out our field work at Bagan, and for facilitating our research visas. Particularly noteworthy is the

encouragement and assistance provided by Director General for Archaeology, U Kyaw Oo Lwin,

and Director of International Relations, Daw Mie Mie Khaing. In Bagan, the project benefited

from discussions with, and support from, Deputy-Director General, U Thein Lwin, and U Aung

Aung Kyaw, Director of the Bagan Archaeology Branch. Officers from the Department of

Archaeology – including Deputy Director U Min Swe, Research Officer U Phyo Pyae Ko Ko,

and especially Junior Research Officer U Ye Lwin (who assisted us in the field on a daily basis)

– offered useful insights and observations during our field research. The Aung Su Pyae Hotel and

its staff provided crew members with a pleasant “home-away-from-home” during our field

season. We also extend our appreciation to U Nandavamsa, Abbot of Tuyin Monastery, who

assisted us in so many ways, from blessing the excavations, providing a place to stay for some of

11

our field crew, arranging for our lunches, and giving us a room to store our field equipment and

artifacts. U Win Thein and U Aung Htoo are commended for cooking up the best possible field

lunches. We would also like to thank our amazing van drivers – U Hla Tin and U Han Thaung –

who helped us in so many ways above and beyond transporting us to and from our excavations.

A number of experts in the archaeology of Myanmar also provided us with useful insights and

inspiration, including Michael Aung Thwin, Bob Hudson, Elizabeth Moore, Janice Stargardt,

Nyein Lwin, and Ni Tut. Finally, we extend our sincere appreciation to the National Geographic

Society, who awarded us with a grant in support of our Nat Yekan investigations.

References Cited

Aung-Thwin, Michael

1985 Pagan: The Origins of Modern Burma. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

1987 Heaven, Earth, and the Supernatural World: Dimensions of the Exemplary Center in

Burmese History. In The City as Sacred Center: Essays on Six Asian Contexts, edited by

Bardwell Smith and Holly Baker Reynolds, pp. 88-102. E. J. Brill, New York.

1990 Irrigation in the Heartland of Burma: Foundations of the Pre-Colonial Burmese State.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Occasional Paper No. 15, Northern Illinois University,

DeKalb.

Aung-Thwin, Michael, and Maitrii Aung-Thwin

2012 A History of Myanmar Since Ancient Times: Traditions and Transformations. Reaktion

Books, London.

Banning, E. B.

2002 Archaeological Survey. Kluwer, New York.

Barthel, Stephan, and Christian Isendahl

2013 Urban Gardens, Agriculture, and Water Management: Sources of Resilience for Long-

Term Security in Cities. Ecological Economics 86:224–234.

Bâty, Pierre

2005 Extension de l’aéroport de Siem Reap 2004: Rapport de Fouille Archéologique. APSARA/

INRAP, Siem Reap/Paris.

2010 Les fouilles de l’aéroport de Siem Reap à Angkor. Archéopages, Hors-série 2, Octobre

2010.

Blagden, C. O. (editor)

1923 Epigraphia Birmanica, Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Burma 3(1). Superintendent

of Government Printing, Union of Burma.

Carter, Alison, Piphal Heng, Miriam Stark, Rachna Chhay, and Damian Evans

2018 Urbanism and Residential Patterning in Angkor. Journal of Field Archaeology 43(6):492-

506.

Chase, Arlen F., Diane Z. Chase, John F. Weishampel, Jason B. Drake, Ramesh L. Shrestha, K.

12

Clint Slatton, Jaime J. Awe, and William E. Carter

2011 Airborne LiDAR, Archaeology, and the Ancient Maya Landscape at Caracol, Belize.

Journal of Archaeological Science 38: 387–398.

Cho Oo, Saburo Murakawa, Kyesuke Sakaue, Daisaku Nishina,Yasuo Koshikawa, and Atsushi

Yakushijin

2003 Study on the Indigenous Building Materials of Traditional Houses in Myanmar. Journal of

Asian Architecture and Building Engineering 2(1).:161-168.

Cooler, Richard M.

1997 Sacred Buildings for an Arid Climate: Architectural Evidence for Low Rainfall in Ancient

Pagan. Journal of Burma Studies 1:19-44.

Daw Thin Kyi

1966 The Old City of Pagan. Artibus Asiae. Supplementum 23:179-188.

Dumarçay, Jacques

1987 The House in South-East Asia. Oxford University Press, Toronto.

Duroiselle, Chas. (editor)

1920 Epigraphia Birmanica, Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Burma 1(2). Superintendent

of Government Printing, Union of Burma.

1921a Epigraphia Birmanica, Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Burma 2(1). Superintendent

of Government Printing, Union of Burma.

1921b Epigraphia Birmanica, Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Burma 2(2).

Superintendent of Government Printing, Union of Burma.

1928 Epigraphia Birmanica, Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Burma 3(2). Superintendent

of Government Printing, Union of Burma.

Ea Darith, and Kyle Latinis

2017 Dating and Analyzing Settlement at Koh Ker: A 10th Century CE Angkorian Capital City.

Paper presented at the 82nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology,

Vancouver.

Fletcher, Roland

2009 Low-Density, Agrarian-Based Urbanism: A Comparative View. Insights 2(4):2-19.

2012 Low-Density, Agrarian-Based Urbanism: Scale, Power, and Ecology. In The Comparative

Archaeology of Complex Societies, edited by Michael E. Smith, pp. 285-320. Cambridge

University Press, New York.

Frasch, Tilman

2014 Bagan Epigraphic Database (BED): A Descriptive Database of 808 Known Inscriptions of

the Bagan Period, Privately circulated MS Word document.

Freestone, Colin S.

13

1974 The South-East Asian Village: A Geographic, Social and Economic Study. George Philip

and Son, London.

French, Charles

2015 A Handbook of Geoarchaeological approaches for Investigating Landscapes and

Settlement Sites. Oxbow Books, Philadelphia.

Grave, Peter, and Mike Barbetti

2001 Dating the City Wall, Fortifications, and the Palace Site at Pagan. Asian Perspectives

40(1):75-87.

Hawken, Scott

2013 Designs of Kings and Farmers: Landscape Systems of the Greater Angkor Urban Complex.

Asian Perspectives 52(2):347-367.

Higham, Charles F.W.

2017 The Prehistoric House: A Missing Factor in Southeast Asia. In New Perspectives

in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory, edited by Philip J. Piper, Hirofumi Matsumura, and

David Bulbeck, pp. 369-384. Australian National University Press, Acton.

Hudson, Bob

2004 The Origins of Bagan: The Archaeological Landscape of Upper Burma to AD 1300.

Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Sydney, Sydney.

Hudson, Bob, Lwin Nyein, and Win Maung (Tanpawady)

2001 The Origins of Bagan: New Dates and Old Inhabitants. Asian Perspectives 40(1):48-74.

Iannone, Gyles

2014a Framing a Comparative Analysis of Tropical Civilizations: An Introduction to the Socio-

Ecological Entanglement in Tropical Societies (Sets) Project. In Framing a Comparative

Analysis of Tropical Civilizations: SETS Project – Phase I (Volume 1), edited by Gyles Iannone,

pp. 1-23. Occasional Papers in Anthropology No. 17, Department of Anthropology, Trent

University, Peterborough.

2014b Framing a Comparative Analysis of Tropical Civilizations. Paper presented at the Trent @

50 Archaeology Symposium, Peterborough.

2015 Key Insights from the Phase I Study. In Framing a Comparative Analysis of Tropical

Civilizations: SETS Project – Phase I (Volume 2), edited by Gyles Iannone, pp. 245-284.

Occasional Papers in Anthropology No. 18, Department of Anthropology, Trent University,

Peterborough.

2016 Release and Reorganization in the Tropics: A Comparative Perspective. In Beyond

Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives on Resilience, Revitalization, and Transformation in

Complex Societies, edited by Ronald K. Faulseit, pp. 179-212. Center for Archaeological

Investigations, Occasional Paper No. 42. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Iannone, Gyles, Kendall B. Hills, and Scott Macrae (editors)

14

2015 Framing a Comparative Analysis of Tropical Civilizations: SETS Project – Phase I

(Volume 2). Occasional Papers in Anthropology No. 18, Department of Anthropology, Trent

University, Peterborough.

Iannone, Gyles, Pyiet Phyo Kyaw, Scott Macrae, Nyein Chan Soe, Saw Tun Lin, and Kong F.

Cheong

2019 Water, Ritual, and Prosperity at the Classical Capital of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to 14th

Centuries CE): Archaeological Exploration of the Tuyin-Thetso “Water Mountain” and the Nat

Yekan Sacred Water Tank. SPAFA Journal 3:1-35. DOI:

http://dx.doi.org/10.26721/spafajournal.v3i0.600

Iannone, Gyles, Pyiet Phyo Kyaw, and Scott Macrae (editors)

2017 Integrated Socio-Ecological History of Residential Patterning, Agricultural Practices, and

Water Management at the “Classical” Burmese (Bama) Capital of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to

14th Century CE): Report on the IRAW@Bagan Project 2017 Field Research. Occasional Papers

in Anthropology No. 19, Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough.

2018 Integrated Socio-Ecological History of Residential Patterning, Agricultural Practices, and

Water Management at the “Classical” Burmese (Bama) Capital of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to

14th Century CE): Report on the IRAW@Bagan Project 2018 Field Research. Occasional Papers

in Anthropology No. 20, Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough.

Isendahl, Christian

2010 Greening the Ancient City: The Agro-Urban Landscapes of the Pre-Hispanic Maya. In The

Urban Mind: Cultural and Environmental Dynamics, edited by, by Paul J.J. Sinclair, Gullög

Nordquist, Frands Herschend and Christian Isendahl, pp. 527-552. Uppsala University, Uppsala.

Isendahl, Christian, and Michael E. Smith

2013 Sustainable Agrarian Urbanism: The Low-Density Cities of the Mayas and Aztecs. Cities

31:132-143.

Kan Hla, U

1977 Pagan: Development and Town Planning. Journal of the Society of Architectural

Historians 36(1):15-29.

Leach, Edmund R.

1977 Political Systems of Highland Burma: A Study of Kachin Social Structure. Athlone,

London.

Lieberman, Victor B.

2003 Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800-1830 (Volume 1: Integration

on the Mainland). Cambridge University Press, New York.

2009 Strange Parallels – Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800-1300 (Volume 2: Mainland

Mirrors: Europe, Japan, China, South Asia, and the Island). Cambridge University Press, New

York.

2011 Charter State Collapse in Southeast Asia, ca. 1250–1400, as a Problem in Regional and

World History. The American Historical Review 116(4):937-963.

15

Lieberman, Victor, and Brendan Buckley

2012 The Impact of Climate on Southeast Asia, circa 950-1820: New Findings. Modern Asian

Studies 46(5):1049–1096.

Luce, Gordon H.

1969 Old Burma: Early Bagan. Artibus Asiae and the Institute of Fine Arts, New York.

Lucero Lisa. J., Fletcher Roland., and Coningham Robin

2015. From ‘Collapse’ to Urban Diaspora: The Transformation of Low-Density Dispersed

Agrarian Urbanism. Antiquity 89:1139–1154.

Mackenzie, J. C.

1915 Climate in Burmese History. Journal of the Burma Research Society 3:40-46.

Macrae, Scott

2017 Terracing, Agr4icultural Strategies, and Resilience at the Ancient Maya Minor Center of

Waybil. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida,

Gainesville, Florida.

Macrae, Scott, and Gyles Iannone

2011 Investigations of the Agricultural Terracing Surrounding the Ancient Maya Centre of

Minanha, Belize. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 8:183-197.

2016 Understanding Ancient Maya Agricultural Terrace Systems through Lidar and

Hydrological Mapping. Advances in Archaeological Practice 4(3):371-392.

Maidment, David R.

2002 Arc Hydro: GIS for Water Resources. No. 1. ESRI Press, Redlands,

California.

Marcus, Joyce, and Jeremy Sabloff (editors)

2008 The Ancient City: New Perspectives on Urbanism in the Old and New World. School for

Advanced Research Resident Scholar Book, Santa Fe.

McIntosh, Roderick J.

1991 Early Urban Clusters in China and Africa: The Arbitration of Social Ambiguity. Journal of

Field Archaeology 18(2):199-212.

2005 Ancient Middle Niger: Urbanism and the Self-Organizing Landscape. Cambridge

University Press, New York.

McIntosh, Roderick J, and Susan Keech McIntosh

2003 Early Urban Configuration on the Middle Niger: Clustered Cities and Landscapes of

Power. In The Social Construction of Cities, edited by Monica Smith, pp. 103-120. Smithsonian

Books, Washington, D.C.

Miksic, John N.

16

2001 Early Burmese Urbanization: Research and Conservation. Asian Perspectives 40(1):88-

107.

2012 Life Among the Ruins: Habitation Sites of Trowulan. In Old Myths and New Approaches:

Interpreting Ancient Southeast Asia, edited by Alexandra Haendal, pp. 159-179. Monash

University, Clayton.

Miksic, John N., and Geok Yian Goh

2017 Ancient Southeast Asia. Routledge, New York.

Moore, Elizabeth, U San Win, and Pyiet Phyo Kyaw

2016 Water Management in the Urban Cultural Heritage of Myanmar. Trans-Regional and -

National Studies of Southeast Asia 4(2):283–305.

Ni Tut (translated by Nyien Chan Soe)

2013. Thetso Taung, Yadanabon Annual Magazine. Yangon.

Nyan Hlaing Lynn

2017 A Forgotten Heritage Site Near Bagan. Frontier Magazine, Tuesday, November 14, 2017.

Nyunt Nyunt Shwe

2011 The Social Life of Bagan Period. Dagon University Research Journal 3:25-31.

Pe Muang Tin and Gordon H. Luce

1923 The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma. Oxford University Press, London.

Pichard, Pierre

1992-2003 Inventory of Monuments at Pagan. 8 Vols. UNESCO, Paris.

Pottier, Christophe

2000 Some Evidence of an Inter-Relationship between Hydraulic Features and Rice Field

Patterns at Angkor During Ancient Times. The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies 18: 99–120.

Pyiet Phyo Kyaw

2017 Secular Evidence in the Visual Art of Bagan. Paper presented at the Bagan Metropolis

Conference, Bagan, Myanmar.

Scarborough, Vernon L., Arlen F. Chase, and Diane Z. Chase

2012 Low-Density Urbanism, Sustainability, and IHOPE-Maya: Can the Past Provide More than

History? UGEC Viewpoints 8:20-24.

Scarborough Vernon L., and Lisa J. Lucero

2010 The Non-Hierarchical Development of Complexity in The Semitropics: Water and

Cooperation. Water History 2:185-205.

Sinclair, Paul J. J.

17

2010 The Urban Mind: A Thematic Introduction. In The Urban Mind: Cultural and

Environmental Dynamics, edited by, by Paul J.J. Sinclair, Gullög Nordquist, Frands Herschend

and Christian Isendahl, pp. 12-28. Uppsala University, Uppsala.

Smith, Michael E.

2010a Sprawl, Squatters and Sustainable Cities: Can Archaeological Data Shed Light on Modern

Urban Issues? Cambridge Archaeological Journal 20(2):229–253.

2010b The Archaeological Study of Neighborhoods and Districts in Ancient Cities. Journal of

Anthropological Archaeology 29(2):137-154.

2011 Classic Maya Settlement Clusters as Urban Neighborhoods: A Comparative Perspective On

Low-Density Urbanism. Journal de la Société des Américanistes 97(1):51-73.

2012 The Role of Ancient Cities in Research on Contemporary Urbanization. UGEC Viewpoints

8:14-18.

Spate, O. H. K.

1945 The Burmese Village. Geographical Review 35(4):523-543.

Sparkes, Stephen, and Signe Howell (editors)

2003 The House in Southeast Asia: A Changing Social, Economic and Political Domain.

Routledge, New York.

Stargardt, Janice

1968 Government and Irrigation in Burma: A Comparative Survey. Asian Studies 6(3):358-371.

Stark, Miriam T., Damian Evans, Chhay Rachna, Heng Piphal, and Alison Carter

2015 Residential Patterning at Angkor Wat. Antiquity 89(348):1439-1455.

Strachan, Paul

1989 Imperial Pagan: Art and Architecture of Burma. Kiscadale, Edinburgh.

Taw Sein Ko (editor)

1899 Inscriptions of Pagan, Pinya and Ava. Superintendent of Government Printing, Union of

Burma.

Taw Sein Ko and Chas. Duroiselle (editors)

1919 Epigraphia Birmanica, Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Burma 1(1), Superintendent

of Government Printing, Burma.

Trigger, Bruce G.

1967 Settlement Archaeology – Its Goals and Promise. American Antiquity 32(2):149-160.

U Mya (editor)

1934 Epigraphia Birmanica, Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Burma 4(1). Superintendent

of Government Printing, Union of Burma.

Waldheim, Charles

18

2010 Notes Toward a History of Agrarian Urbanism: Design Observer.

http://places.designobserver.com/entryprint.html?entry=15518 posted 11/04/10.

Wheatley, Paul

1971 The Pivot of the Four Quarters. Aldine, Chicago.

1983 Nagara and Commadery: Origins of the Southeast Asian Urban Traditions. Department of

Geography, Research Paper Nos: 207-208, University of Chicago, Chicago.

Win Kyaing (U)

2016 The Hydraulic Works of Pagan and the Ancient City. Paper presented at the Paper

presented at the 2nd SEAMEO SPAFA International Conference, Bangkok.

2018 The Water Management of Historic Bagan: The Chronology and Typology of Hydraulic

Works in the Ancient Buddhist City. In Advancing Southeast Asian Archaeology 2016: Selected

Papers from the Second SEAMEO SPAFA International Conference on Southeast Asian

Archaeology, edited by Noel Hidalgo Tan, pp. 276-286. SEAMEO SPAFA Regional Centre for

Archaeology and Fine Arts, Bangkok.