Thai-Lao Ethnographic Collection
In 1981, Joyce White, who had been conducting field research in Thailand for 18 months in the village of Ban Chiang, received a telegram from the Penn Museum requesting that she make a collection of everyday items illustrative of traditional village life. Ban Chiang was the location for excavations by Penn Museum and the Thai Fine Arts Department in 1974 and 1975. White’s ethnobotanical research was part of the Penn Museum Ban Chiang Archaeological Project, and that work had prepared her well for the task.
Joyce had been working with a local farmer, Li Hirionatha, to collect and document traditional knowledge of plants in the region. Over the course of the final two months of that research, Joyce and Li meticulously put together a collection of representative objects of the area noting the name and function of each piece, as well as where it was purchased and when, and other data. The collection consists of examples of everything from ox carts and fishing traps to looms and ceramics.
In the summer of 2024, Thai-Isaan Material Culture Specialist, Nichanan Klangwichi, spent three months at the Penn Museum updating and expanding the cataloging of the collection. Object names and villages are now in both English and Thai. The description includes fuller cultural context and plant names for materials, as well as bibliographic references for further study.
Below you can explore the collection with various filters such as on material and function. To see, for example, all the objects used for fishing, click on the “Subject” filter on the lower left, then select “Fishing Equipment”.
- Object[105]
- no[105]
- asian[105]
- basket[3]
- basket tray[1]
- bird trap[6]
- blacksmith's tongs[1]
- bow[1]
- bushel basket[3]
- cart wheel[2]
- catfish trap[1]
- chicken restrainer[2]
- civet trap[1]
- coconut grater[1]
- container[1]
- cowbell[1]
- crossbow[2]
- eel trap[1]
- eel trap exterior[1]
- eel trap interior[1]
- fan[1]
- fish basket[4]
- fish container[1]
- fish sieve[1]
- fish trap[19]
- floating fish container[1]
- floating fish trap[1]
- frog bow[1]
- frog trap[2]
- harness[2]
- hat[1]
- lid[2]
- massage instrument[1]
- mousetrap[1]
- pellet bow[1]
- pillow[1]
- pole[2]
- rabbit trap[3]
- rat trap[1]
- rice beating sticks[1]
- rice mill[2]
- rice winnower[1]
- scythe[1]
- shoulder bag[1]
- sickle[3]
- sugar mill axle[1]
- sugar mill cog[6]
- sugar mill part[3]
- sugar mill post[4]
- sugar mill trough[1]
- support[1]
- threshing sticks[1]
- torch holder[1]
- water bucket[4]
- water buffalo cart[1]
- water buffalo cart chassis[1]
- water buffalo cart part[1]
- water flask[2]
- water lifter basket[1]
- yoke[2]
- ban bun mi[4]
- ban chiang[33]
- ban don[1]
- ban dong yen[2]
- ban kham or[1]
- ban kham phakkood[13]
- ban kham ta na[8]
- ban kham yang[3]
- ban non sao khwan[3]
- ban nong lat[1]
- ban nong mek[1]
- ban om kaeo[7]
- ban phon sung[1]
- ban pu lu[3]
- ban sam kha[7]
- ban tha chuang[2]
- ban thung fon[7]
- ban yang ngam[1]
- china[1]
- east of ban khon sawan[1]
- sakon nakhon[4]
- thailand[105]
- udon thani[101]
- udon thani (city)[6]
- ban bun mi[4]
- ban chiang[33]
- ban don[1]
- ban dong yen[2]
- ban kham or[1]
- ban kham phakkood[13]
- ban kham ta na[1]
- ban kham yang[3]
- ban khon sawan[1]
- ban non sao khwan[3]
- ban nong lat[1]
- ban nong mek[1]
- ban om kaeo[7]
- ban phon sung[1]
- ban pu lu[3]
- ban sam kha[7]
- ban tha chuang[2]
- ban thung fon[7]
- ban yang ngam[1]
- udon thani (city)[6]
- agricultural tools and equipment[10]
- animal husbandry tools and equipment[3]
- clothing[1]
- container[9]
- cutting tool[1]
- distribution & transportation objects[3]
- fishing equipment[28]
- food processing tools and equipment[19]
- household accessory[2]
- hunting equipment[4]
- lighting device[1]
- metalworking tools and equipment[1]
- personal artifacts[2]
- rice production[9]
- storage & display accessories & components[4]
- transportation artifacts[15]
- trapping equipment[14]
- bamboo[60]
- basketry[21]
- clay[2]
- coconut[1]
- cotton[1]
- crab shell[1]
- fiber[1]
- grass[1]
- iron[5]
- mai cham chaa[1]
- mai duu[7]
- mai kawk kan[1]
- mai khaaw[1]
- mai khaen khayawm[1]
- mai kung[2]
- mai maak lueam[1]
- mai phan saad[7]
- metal[13]
- mud[1]
- namman yaang khii sii[2]
- nylon[7]
- plastic[1]
- raffia[2]
- rattan[8]
- reed (plant)[1]
- rope[4]
- straw[1]
- string[8]
- sugar palm fiber[1]
- thread[1]
- twine[1]
- water buffalo horn[1]
- wicker[1]
- wire[2]
- wood[43]
- actual citation[1]
- type citation[105]
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