Burial Practices in Dvaravati Culture: Similarities and Differences to Prehistoric Period

Abstract

This article aims to study burial in Dvaravati culture by analyzing burial practices, as well as comparing it with the prehistoric period to show the common features and differences in burial practice. The relationship between burial practice and attributes of burial were sex, age at death, artefacts found with burials, and head orientation.

The study found that during the Dvaravati period, the burial could be divided into 2 mortuary phases; the first mortuary phase (6th-9th century) and the second mortuary phase (10th-11st century). In both phases, various burial poses were found similar to the prehistoric period. The most common burial practice is extended, head oriented to the west, and no artefacts are found with burials, a distinctive feature in Dvaravati culture. It was also found that sub-attributes of those burials were independent from burial patterns.

In the Dvaravati period, the burial traditions such as sprinkling red ochre or placing the body on sherd sheets were not found like in the prehistoric period, but there were burials  found alongside Buddhist monuments in some archaeological sites. However, burials were still found until the late Dvaravati period, along with cremation.