This talk aims to provide preliminary observations on the intimate network of trade and social interaction in the Gulf of Siam from peninsular Thailand to the Mekong Delta. The distributions of the artifacts, dated from the Iron Age (c. the late centuries BCE) onward, such as the Dong Son bronze drums, semi-precious stone ornaments, and early Vishnu images, suggests the existence of a neighborhood of communities/polities with common visions around the Gulf, which became a busy hub of trade and passage of people and ideas.
