- Interdisciplinary arts practice and writing, Historical Archaeology, Pottery (Archaeology), Historic Preservation, Industrial Archaeology, Dvaravati Period, and 15 moreSoutheast Asian Archaeology, Historical Pottery and Kilns, Pottery technology and function, Pottery kilns, Interdisciplinary Arts, Protohistory, Indian Ocean World, Historic pottery production (Industrial Archaeology), Khmer art and architecture, Cambodian Archaeology, Southeast Asian history, Colonialism, Southeastern Archaeology (Archaeology in North America), Archaeology of Colonialism, and Thailand archaeologyedit
- Registered Professional Archaeologist with over forty-five years field experience in the American Midwest and Southea... moreRegistered Professional Archaeologist with over forty-five years field experience in the American Midwest and Southeast Asia. Retired from a career as an archaeologist and environmental planner with the Ohio Department of Transportation, now on staff of The Castle Museum in Marietta, Ohio. Presently involved in a long-term excavation of an early historical pottery production site at Marietta, and with research on Dvaravati-related topics (Thailand).edit
Section of SPAFA Journal consisting of several novel research articles, each article presenting regional research issues such as indigenous cosmology, prehistoric periodization, and heritage management.
Research Interests:
CLARKE, WESLEY S., M.A., March 2012, Southeast Asian Studies Return to P’ong Tuk: Preliminary Reconnaissance of a Seminal Dvaravati Site in West-central Thailand (238 pp.) Director of Thesis: Elizabeth Collins. The archaeological site of... more
CLARKE, WESLEY S., M.A., March 2012, Southeast Asian Studies Return to P’ong Tuk: Preliminary Reconnaissance of a Seminal Dvaravati Site in West-central Thailand (238 pp.) Director of Thesis: Elizabeth Collins. The archaeological site of P’ong Tuk, located in Kanchanaburi Province, west-central Thailand, was subject to field investigations by George Coedes in 1927 and H. G. Quaritch Wales in 1935. Both investigations uncovered substantial material remains, including architectural and mortuary features and ritual objects, used to help define an early Buddhist “Dvaravati” cultural expression in the region of central Thailand. These early investigations, however, while regularly cited in the scholarly literature, were brief and minimally reported. The present study undertakes a reevaluation of the Coedes and Quaritch Wales data in light of new concepts and comparative evidence for the Dvaravati culture, as well as an integration of the published material with newly available informatio...
Research Interests:
General site survey of a large infrastructure tract on the Ohio River in southwestern Ohio. On file with the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Columbus.
Research Interests:
Evaluation of sites for significance within a proposed highway corridor, south-central Ohio. Report on file with the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Columbus.
Research Interests:
Intensive excavated sampling at an Early Woodland locality in southeast Ohio, vicinity of an early earthwork complex with earthen circles and mounds. On file with the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Columbus.
The Beyer site is located on the Lake Huron shoreline near St. Ignace, Michigan (Upper Peninsula). Salvage excavations encountered three occupations: Juntunen Phase (circa AD 1300); undetermined occupation between AD 1300 and 1600;... more
The Beyer site is located on the Lake Huron shoreline near St. Ignace, Michigan (Upper Peninsula). Salvage excavations encountered three occupations: Juntunen Phase (circa AD 1300); undetermined occupation between AD 1300 and 1600; historic Native American presence circa AD 1650.
This chapter in the docent guiding handbook for the National Museum (Bangkok, Thailand) provides a brief overview of the early historic period and social entity labelled "Dvāravatī”.
Research Interests:
Scale of observation with archaeological phenomena has a profound impact, even though this factor is not always explicitly recognized and accounted for in research and interpretation. Continuing issues with the conceptualization of the... more
Scale of observation with archaeological phenomena has a profound impact, even though this factor is not always explicitly recognized and accounted for in research and interpretation. Continuing issues with the conceptualization of the early historic entity labeled "Dvāravatī” in central Thailand is partly attributable to the broad-scale ("top-down") approach taken by its early observers, issues that can only be addressed by applying a multi-scalar approach with a minimum of pre-conceived ideas about what Dvāravatī is or is not.
Research Interests:
The Nathaniel Clark pottery manufactory site (33WN490) in operation at Marietta, Ohio, from 1808 to approximately 1849 produced both lead-glazed earthenware and salt-glazed stoneware. Field and archival research on the Clark manufactory... more
The Nathaniel Clark pottery manufactory site (33WN490) in operation at Marietta, Ohio, from 1808 to approximately 1849 produced both lead-glazed earthenware and salt-glazed stoneware. Field and archival research on the Clark manufactory since 2013 has encountered substantial archaeological and documentary information, providing an initial window for study of the local and regional socio-economic and technological contexts within which Clark operated. The area of southeastern Ohio included some of the earliest and most substantial ceramic production centers east of the Alleghenies, but has heretofore received minimal discussion as a region. Preliminary data on early pottery manufacture in southeastern Ohio from circa 1790 to 1820 is presented as the basis for initial intra- and trans-regional comparisons and for future research. Adequate but largely untapped sources of material and documentary information exist and promise to support a broad and detailed narrative for the pottery industry in southeastern Ohio.
Research Interests:
Initial findings, observations and documentary information for this early historical pottery production site are reported.
Research Interests:
The archaeological site of P’ong Tuk, located in Kanchanaburi Province, west-central Thailand, was subject to field investigations by George Coedès in 1927 and H. G. Quaritch Wales in 1936. Both investigations uncovered substantial... more
The archaeological site of P’ong Tuk, located in Kanchanaburi Province, west-central Thailand, was subject to field investigations by George Coedès in 1927 and H. G. Quaritch Wales in 1936. Both investigations uncovered substantial material remains, including ritual objects and architecture, used to help define an early Buddhist “ Dvāravatī” cultural expression in the region of central Thailand. These early investigations, however, while regularly cited in the scholarly literature, were brief and minimally reported. In 2008 the author initiated a comprehensive reevaluation of the Coedès and Quaritch Wales data in light of new concepts and comparative evidence for the Dvāravatī phenomenon. This new research benefitted from the “rediscovery” of Quaritch Wales’ unpublished field notes for his work at P’ong Tuk, and from a field
reconnaissance of P’ong Tuk in January 2008. This re-evaluation and integration of site data resulted in the documentation of new objects and features at P’ong Tuk, and a more in-depth evaluation of older data. It also supported the identification of several new cultural patterns at the site, as well as new avenues for future research, all of which tend to coincide with wider issues extant for the conceptualization of Dvāravatī.
reconnaissance of P’ong Tuk in January 2008. This re-evaluation and integration of site data resulted in the documentation of new objects and features at P’ong Tuk, and a more in-depth evaluation of older data. It also supported the identification of several new cultural patterns at the site, as well as new avenues for future research, all of which tend to coincide with wider issues extant for the conceptualization of Dvāravatī.
Research Interests:
This paper situates the Phong Tuek Visnu, a lesser-known Dvāravatī sculpture from western Thailand, in its archaeological and art historical context in order to demonstrate 7th to 8th century artistic and political connections across... more
This paper situates the Phong Tuek Visnu, a lesser-known Dvāravatī sculpture from western Thailand, in its archaeological and art historical context in order to demonstrate 7th to 8th century artistic and political connections across mainland Southeast Asia. The circumstances of the Visnu’s rediscovery in the early 1950s, as well as its subsequent “restoration” and preservation at Wat Dong Sak, are examined through reappraisal of documentary evidence, new field reconnaissance, interviews of local residents, and systematic examination of the sculpture itself. Detailed stylistic analysis and conjectural reconstruction of the sculpture’s original appearance place the image within the broader development of the mitred Visnu iconographic type known from sites throughout Southeast Asia. With particular emphasis on the details of the headdress and garment, specific comparisons are made to related sculpture from Thailand, Arakan (Myanmar), Preangkorian Cambodia, and the Cham civilization of Vietnam. The Phong Tuek Visnu’s idiosyncratic features and geographically dispersed stylistic relationships suggest a probable early 8th century date following the mid-to-late 7th century expansion of Khmer elites out of the Kampong Thom area of Cambodia. The Phong Tuek Visnu, therefore, provides valuable testimony of a particularly intense period of interactions spanning mainland Southeast Asia from Arakan in the west to central Vietnam in the east.
Research Interests: Southeast Asian Studies, Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Thailand, Southeast Asian Archaeology, and 9 moreSoutheast Asian Art, Art, Iconography and Religion (Hindu and Buddhist)., Southeast Asian Art History, Thailand archaeology, Hindu art, Khmer art and architecture, Vaisnavism, Dvaravati Period, and Preangkorian Period
Overview review of this publication on Late Prehistoric archaeology in the Ohio Region.
“Dvāravatī” is the term applied to an early historic cultural expression in the region of Thailand that, despite 130 years of scholarly investigation, remains poorly understood in many aspects of its material content and sociopolitical... more
“Dvāravatī” is the term applied to an early historic cultural expression in the region of Thailand that, despite 130 years of scholarly investigation, remains poorly understood in many aspects of its material content and sociopolitical organization. An early scholarly focus on monumental art and architecture set a trajectory for the definition and study of Dvāravatī that emphasized an art historical approach and neglected domestic aspects of the cultural record. Neither is the range of settlement types adequately documented, and chronometric information is underdeveloped. Dvāravatī is typically assigned a time range of several centuries between the sixth and eleventh centuries AD, but there is substantial evidence for a “proto” phase before the appearance of monumental sculpture and architecture. Operating in an era when exogamous ideologies and practices entered the region of central Thailand, Dvāravatī has the potential to illuminate local processes of cultural adoption and adaptation. Only a more holistic approach to documenting material and social content, however, will improve our understanding of the Dvāravatī phenomenon.