Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Jul 7
Archaeologists Find 2 2,000-Year-Old Gold Rings in Thailand, One Bearing Bhrami Script
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Jul 7

Archaeologists Find 2 2,000-Year-Old Gold Rings in Thailand, One Bearing Bhrami Script

3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Jul 7

Summary

  • Two gold rings about 2,000 years old were unearthed last week with human bones at the Don Yai Thong site in Thailand's Phetchaburi province.
  • One ring carries characters believed to be Bhrami script, initially read as “pusarakhitasa,” or “the one protected by Pushya,” while the second is plain gold.
  • Thai officials said the burial's owner may have been a Vaishya merchant, adding to evidence that the site held ceremonial burials for wealthy or upper-class people.
  • Eight skeletons, bronze and gold jewelry, pottery and other artifacts have been found since February after villagers discovered ancient bronze drum fragments in a rice field.
  • The site, about 130 kilometers southwest of Bangkok and dated to Thailand's late prehistoric Iron Age, is due to finish excavation within a month before public display plans.

Insights

Could DNA from 2,000-year-old bones rewrite the history of ancient Indian influence and trade in Thailand?
More than just a zodiac sign, what lost beliefs does the ancient script on a Thai gold ring truly reveal?