Mum Cave

Terrain

General condition

The archaeological site is located on Phu Kao. It is about 5 km south from Wat Phra Phutthabat Phu Kao, about 150 meters west from Achan Sim Cave (Patchari Sarikabut 2000).

The nature of the source is a large rock located on the ground like a small mountain, about 100 meters long. In the middle of the eastern rock there is a deep hollow called Tham Muem. The mouth of the cave is about 8 meters wide, about 4 meters deep, and about 2.5 meters high from the stone floor. The ceiling inside the cave appears paintings and carvings. The rock wall below the cave mouth in the part that is attached to the ground. There is a picture carved all over the wall, size 2 meters high and 11 meters long (Department of Fine Arts 1989; Archeology Division 1989; Torsakul Thiraphat et al. 1997; Payao Khemnak 1996; Patcharee Sarikabut 2000)

Phu Kao consists of 9 mountains, namely Phu Fang, Phu Khum Pun, Phu Han, Phu Moei, Phu Khor Mo, Phu Chan, Phu Phoe, Phu Luak and Phu Wat. These 9 mountains are very complex. has a shape like a facing pan with a plain in the middle surrounded by two mountains The outer layer is mountainous and has a very steep slope. The inner mountain slopes are not very steep. (Tham Mum is located in the inner hillside of the outer mountain range). Most of the area is high and low, some are plain. An area like this is probably the remains of an ancient volcano that has been extinct for hundreds of millions of years. or otherwise it is the deflection of the earth's crust in this area up to the edge of the mountain range.

Currently, Phu Kao, including archaeological sites, is located in the Phu Kao-Phu Phan Kham National Park area. The general appearance is a deciduous dipterocarp forest. There are trees scattered everywhere. especially in the area of ​​hillsides and ridges The important plants are trellis, nests, wattles, antimony, saplings, cycads, cycads, grass, pek, peng, vines and many types of thorns. The mixed deciduous forest is a forest that exists in the lowland areas along the creeks, valleys and some hillsides. The important plants are red, padauk, maca, tae, krabok, staghorn, bird's foot, the ground plant is bamboo. The evergreen forest is only found along the banks of the creek. The important plants are Tabak, Yang, Takhian Hin, Macha Mong, Krabok, and Rosewood.

Height above mean sea level

Waterway

Phong River, Huai Sam Mek, Huai Bong, Huai Som

Geological conditions

The archaeological site is located on the sandstone mountain, which is the edge of the outer mountain range of Phu Kao. Classified in the temple stone category. Korat Stone Group From the Cretaceous to the Jurassic The inner mountain range and within Phu Kao are sandstone in the Korat rock group. Cretaceous Khok Kruat, Phu Phan and Sao Khua rock categories

Archaeological Era

era/culture

Types of archaeological sites

archaeological essence

The cave art that appears in Tham Muum includes both pictographs and petroglyphs, most of which are carvings and are considered to be the largest rock wall carvings ever found in Thailand (Pach Ree Sarikbut 2000)

The cave art that appears in Tham Mum is both pictograph and petroglyph, most of which are carvings and are the largest rock wall carvings ever. Found in Thailand (Patcharee Sarikabut 2000)

The picture on the wall of the cave is divided into 2 parts according to the location found:1. The picture on the wall of the mouth of the cave. 2. Pictures on the wall and ceiling inside the cave (Phayao Khemnak 1996; Fine Arts Department 1989; Archeology Division 1989; Patcharee Sarikabut 2000)

1.The picture on the cave wall Appears to be carved or etched into the rock (petroglyph), a mixture of abraded, engraved, carved or pecked, but most of the time it is rubbed into grooves.

The picture in the middle of the wall is denser than the edge on both sides. The surface of the stone is uneven. Because there are cracks in the natural stone lines of this type of stone. Some of the lines are evident that the photographers have used these cracks to rain and carve them into lines to create images of various shapes. The picture on the far left is a pair of lines, a triangle, a rhombus. and the image of a fish facing up Around the head there is a white pebble stone positioned right in the head. which intentionally placed the image of the fish in this position The next image is a line drawing that is spaced apart. There is also an arrowhead image.

After that was a large group of pictures in the middle of the wall. Make a straight line arranged in a rather orderly line. At some intervals there are cross-sectional lines resulting in various shapes, namely triangles, squares, rhombuses, parallel lines, crosses, jagged edges, fish bodies, arrowheads, crossbow-like shapes. ax-shaped mold and metal ax pattern classify images Found on this stone wall (Phayao Khemnak 1996) is

animal pictures There are 3 fish. Make a picture using a rhombus.

Object image ax? 11 images and 1 pair of molds, shaped like bronze and iron axes. Along with the crossbow picture?

Line art, also known as Pictures There are single lines, double lines, triangles, squares and crosses.

2. Pictures on the walls and ceiling of the cave The craftsman tried to select a relatively smooth stone wall. Thus, the picture was distributed into 3 groups together (Phayao Khemnak 1996)

Group at 1 on the cave wall next to the stone floor The size of the image group is 50 centimeters high, 3 meters long. The technique of making images is rubbing or grooving. by using straight lines to create images into various shapes The same is true for the picture on the cave wall with straight lines, double lines, triangles, rhombuses, crosses, and downward-facing fish.

Group at 2 Adjacent to the mouth of the cave inside The size of the picture group is 1x1.5 meters. The technique of making the picture is the same as the first picture. Most of the patterns are similar.

Group at 3 in the middle of the ceiling of the cave There are both paintings and carvings together. It is a kind of line drawing such as 5 parallel lines arranged in a row, square, grid, chevron, curved line, crooked line. The image of a red hand grafted and grooved on the palm. Demonstrate the techniques of making both methods, namely, painting and embossing on the rock at Tham Muem together. which is a group of people who already know the use of metals.

Patcharee Sarikabutr (2000) provided information that the technique of painting at this cave should be to use a brush with small strokes. It can be seen from the weight of the paint being even. The brush can hold a lot of color. The paint flows into the pores well. The carving would probably use a solid object. It may be a pointed metal eroded into a groove. May scrub the groove with a pointed end on both sides. The weight of the hand presses into the center of the groove. make it wider and deeper than the tip The resulting image has a close connection angle, such as a triangle, etc. Known to select the stone surface. the appearance of the line The intention to create images into various shapes, symbolic images, color paintings that coexist with engravings. All have a meaning. And all the images were made at the same time.

While a survey of the Fine Arts Department (1989) assumed that these paintings were written in response to social beliefs. The artist who painted the picture assumed that he was in a traditional social life. bond with nature Painting is part of the ritual. Made to create stability about the living conditions of society. The paintings found were similar to those of other distant sources. This may be due to immigration from one community to another. It is a group of people with the same level of social development on the same basis. or a group of people who have contact These people make use of the rock sheds as temporary shelters for some activities. This area is probably inhabited by the hill tribe people. and have moved their settlements indefinitely causing no tools to be used to write images in the area of ​​color paintings.

Phayao Khemnak (1996) assumed that these paintings and carvings Probably caused by the rituals related to livelihood and record some events that are meaningful to life and society From the picture of the fish, it is assumed that the importance of the river and the food. As a result of several archaeological excavations, large numbers of fishbones were found. including Ban Chiang in the Bronze Age

This cave site is the first and only site in the Northeast with large-scale carvings. and from the nature of the picture These paintings were created at some point during the Metal Age (Patchari Sarikbutr 2000) or the same period as the cave art on Phu Phra Bat, Ban Phue District (Phayao Khemnak 1996; Fine Arts Department 1989)

In the area of ​​Phu Kao, many prehistoric archaeological sites were found. Both cave art sources on Phu Kao and Don Klang located on the plains of the eastern foothills of Khao Phu Kao.