• This week in Southeast Asian Archaeology: Prambanan gets some renewed attention, Phimai Black pottery surfaces at Mun Bon Dam, and I’m taking a short break next week.⠀
⠀
The featured stories look at the new Indonesia–India conservation project at Prambanan, focusing on the temple complex’s ruined perwara shrines, and a striking Late Prehistoric find in northeast Thailand: a remarkably complete Phimai Black vessel discovered as water levels fell at Mun Bon Dam.⠀
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Temples, pottery, reservoirs, and a little scheduled rest. Back again on 27 July.⠀
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Read this week’s newsletter: [link in bio]⠀
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#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Archaeology #Heritage #Prambanan #Thailand #Indonesia #Cambodia #Vietnam #CulturalHeritage #Substack
  • Gold rings, bronze drums, ancient burials, and better ethics in bioarchaeology — this week’s Southeast Asian Archaeology newsletter is a two-week catch-up edition.⠀
⠀
The lead story comes from Don Yai Thong in Phetchaburi, Thailand, where excavations have revealed gold ornaments, bronze drums, burials, beads, pottery and more. One newly reported gold signet ring bears Brahmi script, raising interesting questions about status, ritual and long-distance connections in the region.⠀
⠀
Also featured: a new paper on ethical collaboration when working with human remains in Southeast Asia — a timely reminder that care, respect, training, authorship and local authority are all part of good archaeological practice.⠀
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Read the latest issue through the link in bio.
  • Cobbles, Caves and Committees 🪨⛰️📜⠀
⠀
This week’s Southeast Asian Archaeology newsletter moves from UNESCO heritage diplomacy to synchrotron science in Malaysia’s Nenggiri Valley, and then back into deep time with Early Palaeolithic cobble tools from Cambodia’s Mekong terraces.⠀
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Cover image: Wat Phra Mahathat, Nakhon Si Thammarat — because temple towers do improve most things.⠀
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Read the latest issue at the link in bio.⠀
⠀
#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Archaeology #Heritage #Cambodia #Malaysia #UNESCO #WatPhraMahathat #NakhonSiThammarat #CulturalHeritage
  • This week in Southeast Asian Archaeology: broken pots, painted hands, and returning relics.⠀
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The main story is a new paper on Angkorian ceramics from Thala Borivat and Sambor, showing how Angkor’s eastern Mekong provinces were connected through roads, rivers, rapids and local choices — not one neat supply chain.⠀
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Also featured: Tham Pha Mue in Laos opens to visitors, a site I studied and helped document; Cambodia welcomes the return of three sculptures from the US; plus updates from Bujang Valley, Mỹ Sơn and Bagan.⠀
⠀
Read this week’s issue: https://bit.ly/3QjsdVO ⠀
⠀
#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Angkor #Cambodia #Laos #RockArt #Archaeology #Heritage #Mekong
  • Boats, pots, and prehistoric know-how this week at Southeast Asian Archaeology.⠀
⠀
In the new newsletter:⠀
🛶 outrigger boat motifs in Sulawesi rock art⠀
🏺 new perspectives on pottery in Timor-Leste⠀
👑 the restored Nguyen Dynasty throne⠀
🎟️ falling ticket sales at Angkor⠀
⚖️ a new book on archaeology and Philippine law⠀
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#Archaeology #SoutheastAsia #Heritage #RockArt #TimorLeste #Indonesia
  • Brunei’s archaeology does not get nearly enough attention.⠀
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For this bonus post, I’m looking at Kota Batu Archaeological Park, the site of Brunei’s old capital. It is not a spectacular ruin in the usual sense — no towering temples, no monumental gateways — but its fragments tell a fascinating story: tombs, ceramics, sandstone pillar bases, river defences, house posts, imported wares, and traces of a working port city.⠀
⠀
Kota Batu shows Brunei not as a quiet corner of Southeast Asian archaeology, but as part of the maritime world that linked Borneo with China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and beyond.
  • This week’s Southeast Asian Archaeology newsletter is about movement, adaptation, and why archaeology is rarely as tidy as we pretend.⠀
⠀
Inside:⠀
🏹 a new review of bow-and-arrow evidence from India to Oceania⠀
🪙 a study of how Roman materials were filtered and remade in Southeast Asia⠀
🌊 new work on maritime links between Angkor and China during the megadrought period⠀
⠀
Also this week: Angkor palace waterworks, the Cẩm An shipwreck, and the reopening of Phimai National Museum.⠀
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Link in bio / https://bit.ly/4dV88wS ⠀
#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Archaeology #Heritage #Angkor #Vietnam #Thailand #Cambodia #AncientTrade #MaritimeArchaeology
  • New this week in Southeast Asian Archaeology: the Plain of Jars, trade beads, burial rituals, Philippine obsidian, coastal watchtowers, public archaeology, and a museum rethink of the galleon trade.⠀
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The lead story is a new paper from Laos, where one huge jar at Site 75 contained the remains of at least 37 people and hints at a long, careful mortuary tradition. From there, the issue moves across the region, with a particularly strong run of stories from the Philippines on exchange networks, local histories, and the stories archaeology tells in public.⠀
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Jars, beads, boats, and the occasional inconvenient fact. https://bit.ly/3RqKWyW ⠀
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#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Archaeology #Heritage #Laos #Philippines #Museums #PublicHistory
  • This week: Đồng Dương, ancient Champa, broken bricks, border temples, Buddhist architecture on the move, and a reminder that archaeology is rarely just about the past.⠀
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Link in bio / read here: https://bit.ly/4ePHSpL ⠀
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#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #DongDuong #Champa #Vietnam #Cambodia #Thailand #Myanmar #Archaeology #Heritage
  • This week in Southeast Asian Archaeology: a remarkable burial find in Phetchaburi, an old perahu under review in Kelantan, and the Po Nagar festival in Vietnam as a case of living heritage in action. ⠀
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https://bit.ly/48PAeI5 ⠀
⠀
#archaeology #southeastAsia #southeastasianarchaeology
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
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Treasure hunter under investigation by Indonesian authorities

4 May 2010
in Indonesia
Tags: Michael Hatcher (person)Ming Dynasty (kingdom)porcelainsmugglingtreasure hunting
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Indonesian authorities are investigating a treasure hunter for allegedly trying to smuggle Ming artefacts out of the country.

Treasure Hunter Unwelcome in Indonesia After Alleged Theft of Undersea Artifacts
Jakarta Globe, 30 April 2010

The National Police and immigration officials have slapped a travel ban on treasure hunter Michael Hatcher, as authorities investigate allegations that he stole undersea artifacts.

“We have imposed a travel ban, that is one of our anticipative measures,” National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said on Friday.

He said police were still tracking the whereabouts of the 70- year-old treasure hunter, who was reportedly born in Britain but grew up in Australia.

He is being tracked down for trying to smuggle thousands of pieces of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) porcelain out of the country in two ships that were intercepted off West Java in September. Some 2,360 pieces of porcelain were seized on the ships.

“We are still investigating the case and no one has been charged yet,” Ito said.


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