Description:
"Interpretations:
Bricks were used to build walls around Pyu and Mon sites in Myanmar and Thailand during
the early first millennium AD if not earlier. 1 Many of these bricks have lines on the ends or
across the width, patterns made with the fingers while the bricks were still soft. Unlike many
other diagnostic Pyu artefacts such as beads and coins, finger-marked bricks are not easily
collected or traded. They are cumbersome to transport over great distances, and even when reused
today tend to remain in the locality where they were first made.
The massive brick walls of Sriksetra, Beikthano and Halin are one of the principal features
used to identify these sites as Pyu, although it is now accepted that their occupation pre-dates
the construction of walls. Chinese emissaries in the 9th century AD described the city-wall of
the P?iao (Pyu) capital as being faced with glazed bricks, part of a general perception that
walls designate an area as urban. It has been suggested that the armies of the Nan-chao did not
think the newly founded kingdom of Bagan worthwhile to raid, as it had no fortified city
(Htin Aung 1967:31)..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Historical Research Journal, No(13) June 2004, pp.1-57
Date of Publication:
2004-06-00
Date of entry:
2004-11-11
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
Local URL:
Format:
pdf
Size:
256.12 KB