�

Another Busy and Productive Year--at the Ban Chiang Lab

by Joyce C. White

Where are we? It’s a questioneveryissueoftheBanChiangUp-DATEforcesustoassess.Thepastyear was a whirlwind of activity.Wesawsignificantclosures (yay!!The Ban Chiang Project’s firstmonograph is inhand!Andskel-etaldatapostedon thewebsite!);near closures on smaller projects(severalpaperspresentedatinter-national meetings, four scholarlyarticlesacceptedforpublication—seeLabNotes);arefocusingonthenextbigprojects,namelythenexttwomonographs;aswellasinitialsteps toward future fieldwork inLaos.

Reception of the Skeleton Monograph Mailed with this newsletterare two reviews by senior physi-cal anthropologists of MichaelPietrusewsky and Kell Douglas’smonograph Ban Chiang, a Prehis-toric Village Site in Northeast Thai-

land I: The Human Skeletal Remains.Bin Yamaguchi of the NationalScienceMuseuminTokyo,Japanin Anthropological Science, a Japa-nesejournal,laudedthevolume’scomprehensivecoverageandclearpresentation.ClarkLarsen in theAmerican Journal of Physical Anthro-pology states, “This is an impor-tant book” and used words suchas “amazing” and “a must-read”

thathelpourteamfeelthatallourhardworkwasworthwhile. On March �7th, 2002 wecelebrated the publication of theskeletonbookwithaparty in theMuseum’s Upper Egyptian gal-lery. (For more on this event, seeArdeth’sarticleonpagetwo.)

Endowment TheBanChiangEndowmentFundfortheMuseum’sSoutheastAsianarchaeologicalresearchandpublicationnowstandsat$47,900.FOBC contributions unless oth-erwise designated are currentlyadded to our endowment. Pleasecontinue to help us build towardlongtermfiscalstabilitywithcon-tributionsofanysize!

World Travels AsyoucanseeinLabNotes(pageseven),IandotherBanChi-angGangmembersoverthepasteighteen months have attendedconferences in Japan, Vietnam,Taiwan,andSweden.Severalpub-licationsare“inpress”fromthesevenues, and I am particularlyexcited about the multi-authorsummary of the Thailand Pal-aeoenvironment Project that will

F. O. B. C.

The Ban ChiangUpDATE

Newsletter for theFriends of Ban Chiang

Preserving a UNESCO World Heritage Site Issue #12 Winter/Spring 2003

--FR

IEND

of BAN CHIANG

--

aU

NESCO World He

ritag

eSi

te

The invitation to last March’s book celebration: Joyce dancing with an “old chum.” continued on page two

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6324 www.upenn.edu/museum/Research/banchiang.html

2

bepublishedinQuaternaryInter-national. Bill Henderson’s articleonpagefourtellsofhisexperienceat the Indo-PacificPrehistoryAs-sociation(IPPA)meetinginTaipeithis past September, where manyof our Gang organized sessionsandpresentedpapers. From Taipei, I traveled toBangkok to review with Soi theprogress of her dissertation re-search, for which she received aWenner-Gren Fieldwork Grant.AfterthatImademysecondtriptoLaos todiscuss future collabo-rationwithLaoGovernmentoffi-cialsonarchaeologicalresearchinLuang Prabang province. Duringmy first trip in December 200�I conducted a rapid assessmentsurvey in twoLaoprovinces,andthemiddleMekongregionaroundLuang Prabang showed evidenceof�0,000yearsofhumanoccupa-tion!OurhopeisthatsettlementsofsocietiesprecedingBanChiangcanbeidentifiedinthatregion.

Thai Week and Good-byes InJune,theRoyalThaiEm-bassy asked the Ban Chiang Proj-ecttocontributeadisplayto“ThaiWeek” in Washington, D.C. TensofthousandsattendedtheweekendofThaicultureandcuisine,whichwasheldonFreedomPlazathesec-ond weekend in July. We submit-ted two largedouble-sideddisplaypanelsthathadinformationaboutUPenn Museum’s collaborationswithThailand’sFineArtsDepart-mentonBanChiang,theThailandArchaeometallurgy Project, theThailandPalaeoenvironmentProj-ect,aswellastheSoutheastAsianScholarlyWebsite. The display would neverhave been completed had it notbeen for thecontributionof timeand expertise of current and for-

mer UPenn students, SaithiwaRamasoot (Pui), Veera Leelapat-tanaputi, Siriporn Phakdeepha-sook (Ri), Raween Wongsarochana (Ging), and Ardeth Abrams. Thankyou all for your hard work! HisExcellency,Mr.SakthipKrairiksh (Ambassador of Thailand) also expressed “profound gratitude” to our “team” for the “beautiful and knowledgeable exhibits” on Thai archaeology and Ban Chiang for Thai Week. In July we said goodbye to longtime volunteer John Hastings, who moved to California with his wife, Cricket. The article on page three pays tribute to the twenty-four remarkable years John, Ban Chiang Gang member extraordinaire, spent with us at the Museum.

Save the Date On the evening of May 21st

2003, a photography show by Andrea Baldeck on modern day Southeast Asia will have a recep-tion at the Museum’s Curator’s Party. I will give a talk entitled “Pioneer, Leader, and Achiever: Museum Research in Southeast Asia,” which will also be the sub-ject of plasma screen displays in the photo gallery. All FOBC will be invited to the event.

The Next Monographs Not resting on our laurels, we have plunged forward into prepar-ing the next two monographs: Ban Chiang Chronology and Stratig-raphy and The Archaeometallurgy of Northeast Thailand. These are“works in progress,” but we aimforvolumessimilarinqualityandcomprehensiveness to volume �on theBanChiangskeletons.WewillkeepyouinformedinthenextUpDate. v

Joyce C. White, Ph. D.Director, Ban Chiang Project

Pui and Ri pose with one of the “Thai week” panels.

Panels on display under the tent on Freedom Plaza in D.C.

phot

o by

Jud

y Vo

elker

Benjamin Abrams and friend at the “book party,” March 2002.

�

by Ardeth Abrams

ItwasarainySunday,March17th, when the Friends of BanChianggatheredtocelebratethepublicationofthefirstvolumeinour monographseries:Ban Chiang, a Prehistoric Village Site in Northeast Thailand I: The Human Skeletal Re-mains. Wewerealltreated to a lateafternoon of fes-tivities sponsoredby First Union Bank, includ-ing remarks byJoyce, deliciousand exotic Lao/Thai food, and acharming groupof Lao perform-ers who delighted us with theirunusualmusic. Over one hundred FriendsofBanChiang,Thaicommunitymembers, and museum employ-eesattendedthepartyintheup-per Egyptian gallery from 4:30until6:30pm.TheLaofoodwasafirsttimeexperienceforsome,includingmyself.Wesavoredthelaab (minced beef with herbs),and som tam esan (green papayasalad),khao neow (stickyrice),aswellasoldfavoriteslikegai satay(spicy chicken on a skewer) andpad thai (stir fried noodles withchopped peanuts and shrimp).There were also delicious but-lered hors d’oeuvres and a wet

barprovidedbytheMuseumCa-teringCompany. As at past Ban Chiangevents, music was key to thewell-rounded Southeast Asianexperience. A group of Laotionmusicians played traditional in-struments and performed wellpast 6:30 pm (see photo below).Details such as the instrumentsplayedbythemenandtheshim-meringsilkenattirewornbythewomengavetheaudiencearare

glimpseintothisdistantculture.By the end of the party, JoyceandsomeoftheotherpartygoersjoinedtheladiesinthegroupforsometraditionalLaodancing! After about 45 minutes ofenjoyingthemusicandfood,ourmerrymaking paused momen-tarily for slides and remarks byDr. Joyce White. Her presenta-tion was lighthearted as wellas informative, and the grouplistened as Joyce explained thesignificance of this milestone inourhistoryandthecontributionoftheBanChiangskeletonbooktoarchaeologyandanthropologyas a whole. She also took a fewmoments to describe her latest

archaeological survey in Laos.Lastly,Minister–CounselorSom-pong Sanguanbun gave remarkson the Thai-American partner-shipwiththegoalofbringingthisresearchintothepubliceye. On display that afternoonwere several exhibits fromthe Ban Chiang Lab and theMuseum’s Publications Depart-ment.VolunteerBillHendersoncompiledacomputerslideshowofthelatestinformationonBanChiang research. A case dis-playedvariousBanChiangarti-facts,andofcourse, theFriendsofBanChianghada tablewithFOBC information (many dona-tions to the Ban Chiang Project were made the afternoon of the party!).Lastbutcertainlynotleast,“theskeletonbook,”aswefondlycallit,wasonsaleatthePublicationstable. We at the Ban Chiang Project would like to thank everyone who helped make this delightful event pos-sible. v

Laotian performers performing traditional music in the Upper Egyptian gallery in March, 2002.

A Celebration to Remember

phot

os b

y Ju

dy V

oelk

er

Ardeth P. AbramsIllustrator, Ban Chiang Project

Special thanks to Museum Catering Co.

and Vientiane Cafésee ad on page 8

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This past July, we had to say good-bye to longtime volunteer and true friend, John Hastings. He and his wife, Cricket, would be moving later that month to California. The follow-ing is the speech I gave at his farewell party given by the Museum. They don’t get much morespecialthanJohn.Johnhasbeena long time Museum member,but in�978,JohnbecameaMu-seumvolunteerwiththeBanChi-angProject. There are not many employ-ees, never mind volunteers, whohave become as much a part ofthefabricoftheMuseumasJohnHastingshasoverthepasttwenty-fiveyears.DuringtheseyearsJohnhashadintimate,oftenfulltimein-volvementwithBanChiangaswellasotherMuseumprojectsandlaterwithMuseumIT. IcannotsayhowmuchJohnhashelpedtheBanChiangProjectoverthe years. Like a knight in shiningarmor, perhaps a quiet behind-the-scenes knight in shining armor, hehasonmorethanoneoccasionsavedtheProjectfromoblivion.Wherehehasbeenmostinstrumentalisinhisefforts with the Ban Chiang com-puterizeddatabase.Imagineallthisdatainmainframefiles,havingbeenhand coded and key punched in80-columnformatcardsbyazillionvolunteersandworkstudystudentsinthelate�970s. Bytheendofthe�980sthePCrevolutionwastakingcomput-

ingtothepointwheremainframefilesmightnolongerbeuseable.NEH, National Endowment fortheHumanities,hadturneddownaBanChianggrantproposalthatincluded, among other things,converting this data, becausetheir experts said conversioncouldnotbedone.Well, what did they know?Johnsetaboutworkingwith dozens of data files—mis-cellaneous stone, amorphousbronze, clay pellets—and file byfile, fieldby field, converted themainframedatatoadesktopda-tabasecalledParadoxbywritingBasic programs. Those rescueddataarenowinMicrosoftAccessfilesandweusethemeveryday. John’s in depth involve-mentwithBanChiangcomputerdata laid the foundation for hislargerinvolvementwithMuseumcomputing. Many will recallwhen John was the Museum ITdepartment. Anyone rememberRainbow computers? John wasinstrumentalinthefirstefforttooutfitlargenumbersofMuseumstaff with computers. Whetheritwasorderinga computerwithspecifications perfect for eachperson,ordesigning ingeniouslyuser-friendlydatabasesforMem-bershiporEducationscheduling,John was exquisitely attunedto the individual’s and thedepartment’s needs, and foundgreatpleasureinsatisfyingthoseneeds. And this don’t forget, this is as a volunteer!Yep, theydon’tgetmuchbetterormoreselflessthanJohn. SowithJohn’smovetoCali-fornia,theMuseumfabricistorn.Hewillnotslipoutinvisiblyandpainlesslybutwillleavebehindapainfulsenseofloss,mixedwitha deep, deep appreciation forall he has done for the institu-

tion and many individuals here.While many of us will miss hiscalm presence when we feel weare facing our next computermeltdown, one of the things Iin particular will miss is John’sexquisitely clear thinking—aboutanything. From the best termi-nology to describe rim shapes,totheprecisegrammarandspinforaFriendsofBanChiangpam-phlet(heisakillereditor,bytheway),John,withtheclearestlogicand most precise articulation,wouldhelpmethinkthroughanyand every issue from the mostpicayunearchaeologicaldetailtooverall strategy for dealing withscholarlynemeses. OfcourseIcouldgoonandon with examples of John’s con-tributions over the past quartercentury.There isnoperfectwaytosumthisallup,butIcansayforallofus,John,youreallymadeadifferencehere. TheMuseumand certainly the Ban ChiangProject would not be what theyaretodaywithoutyou.v

John Hastings:Volunteer

Extraordinare!by Joyce C. White

John Hastings, our very own com-puter guru.

�

MostofthetenyearsthatIhavespentasavolunteerwiththeBan Chiang Project have beenoccupiedwiththecompilationofpotteryrimdatafromtheSakonNakhon Basin, the area of theBanChiangexcavationsinnorth-east Thailand. There have beenseveralother excavations in thatvicinityanddataonpotteryrimswere recordedusingavarietyofmethods by various excavators.Theseexcavationsallfallintothegeneral time period of the firstthrough third millennium BC.My taskhasbeen toconstructacomparative database using theshapeoftherimformsasabasisofcommonalityandcomparison. Using the Microsoft Accessprogram,variousdatahavebeenenteredpertainingtotheartifactsincluding scanned drawings ofpotteryrimsandwholeorrecon-structedvessels,over�600imagesinall.Earlierthispastyear,JoycesuggestedthatIprepareapaperfor presentation at the IPPA(Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association) conference heldin Taiwan in September. JudyVoelker, who was going to chairasessiononThaiceramicsattheconference,secondedherrequest,andIagreed.

Fortunately, this also pro-videdanopportunityforafamilygathering. My daughter-in-law,Sue, originally from Taipei, hada good excuse to accompany usalong with my son and grand-daughter to visit her parents foracoupleofweeks.Formygrand-daughter this was a chance tobecomeacquaintedwithherma-ternalgrandparentsandtomeettwoofhercousins. Aneighteen-hourflightandtwelve hours of time change areaboutasmuchasanyonecanab-sorb in one day. Thankfully, weweremetattheairportbyfamilymembers of my daughter-in-law.Afterafewhoursofmuchappre-ciatedrestatthehotel,wesetouton the first of several informalcitytours. Prior to the conference wespentaneveningwithSue’sfam-ily and had dinner in a nearbymall, a highly unusual bit of ar-chitectureconsistingofa twelve-story sphere within a sphere.Shops were on every circular

level and moving walkways onbridgesledintotheinnersphere.Insidetheinnerspherewerethereally upscale shops and severalrestaurants;onewasafinesteakhousewhereweenjoyeddinner. Taiwan isaprosperousandmodernisland.Taipeihasapub-lic transportation system secondto none, subways, a monorail,buses anda limitedaccesshigh-way system that snakes through-out the city. Reasonably pricedtaxicabs are everywhere andtipping is not expected for anyservices. There were 240 delegatesto the conference, too many forthemalltostayattheAcademiaSinica, the conference venue.About half of them, includingus,stayedattheHowardInterna-tionalhotelinTaipei,ahalfhourshuttlebusridetotheconferencehallsontheoutskirtsof thecity.With over two hundred papersbeingpresented, therewere fourconcurrent sessions held during

“Pottery Anatomy - a journey,” an artist’s conception (by Ardeth Abrams) of volunteer Bill Henderson’s long and often arduous task of organizing the pottery rim data since 1992.

IslandAdventure

by Bill Henderson

continued on next page

6

Become a Friendof Ban Chiang!

Enclosed is my contribution of $ payable to the:

TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

I would like to renew my contribution of $ to support the Ban Chiang Project.

I would like more informa-tion about the Ban Chiang Project.

I have changed my address. The following is my new ad-dress:

-Levels of Giving:over $1000 Bronze Caster$500-999 Pottery Painter$100-499 Iron Smith$25-99 Stone Carver

-Send to:Friends of Ban ChiangUniversity of Pennsylvania Museumof Archaeology and Anthropology3260 South StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19104-6324

Is it time for you to renew your support of the Ban Chiang

Project? -- every con-tribution is gratefully

received!

the weeklong event, coveringmanydifferentaspectsofSouth-east Asian and Pacific island ar-chaeology.TheluckofthedrawhadmytalkonthefirstMondaymorning. The presentation, beinglimitedtotwentyminutes,couldonly outline the problems en-countered in constructing thedatabase.Itwaspresentedinthecontext of a journey of severalstages of progress. Aided in theoralpreparationbytheguidanceof Joyce and accompanied by aslide show prepared by Ardeth,thetalkwaswellreceived. An expanded text is to bepublished in a future IPPA Bul-letin(seeLabNotes).Laterintheweek there were demonstrationsofthedatabase,livelydiscussions,andsomeexpectedquestioningoftheusefulnessof thewholeproj-ect. But generally the idea of alogicallyconstructeddatabaseoftheseartifactswaswell received,especiallybytheyoungergenera-tionofAsianarchaeologists.Theonlysurpriseoccurredwhen thedatawasloadedonalocallaptopfor a demonstration, and thecomputer’s Access 2000 versionwas in Chinese, giving me quitea start when trying to decipherthedropdownmenus.SomehowIgotthroughthedemo. Following the conferencethere was a three-day aroundtheislandtour,visitstoarchaeo-logical sites, outdoor dinners(it’s always a warm 82 degrees),andentertainmentbyaboriginaltribes. The dances, chants, andcostumes of these Austronesianpeople sometimes had a distinctsimilarity to Native Americanceremonies. We visited severalmodern and impressive muse-umsusuallywithoutenoughtime

toreallyappreciateall therewastosee. Oneof thehighlightswasatouroftheTokoroGorge,aspec-tacular narrow canyon of whitemarble. This was followed by avisit to a marble factory, whichgavemeaclueastowhysomanyof Taiwan’s hotels have floor toceilingmarblebathrooms. Oh yes, every town hasmusical trash trucks! Because itis always so warm the citizensare alerted to put out trash fortheapproachingtrashtruckthatsounds like the Good HumorMancoming.Trashthenwillnotbe left outside for too long andbecomesmelly. TheTaiwanconferencewasamemorableculturalandscolarlyexperienceformyselfandseveralotherBanChiangGangers.Sincereturning, Ihave completedcod-ing two easy categories of rimsandamnowdevelopingthecod-ingformoreelaborateforms.Ex-cept perhaps for the experienceofamildearthquakethatputthelightsoutduringoneofthetalks,theTaiwanIPPAconferencewassmoothandenjoyable.Almostde-void of American and Europeantourists, Taiwan remains a desti-nationseldomseenbytheaveragetraveler.v

William HendersonVolunteer, Ban Chiang Project

Bill and Barbara standing in front of a museum in Taiwan.

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CONfErENCE NEwSv Joyce presentedapapersummariz-ing theThailandPalaeoenvironmentProjectatthethirdjointconferenceoftheAsianLakeDrillingProgramandEuropean Lake Drilling Program inKyoto, Japan,November200�.Herswasthefirstandsofaronlyreportonresearch inmainlandSoutheastAsiapresentedatthisconferenceseries.vChris King presented a posteron the Southeast Asian Archaeol-ogyScholarlyWebsite(fundedbytheHenryLuceFoundation)attheEuro-peanAssociationofSoutheastAsianArchaeologists at Sigtuna, Sweden, June2002.vJoyce attended the conference“OneCenturyofVietnamArchaeol-ogy”inHanoiDecember200�.vIPPA (Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association) Conference in Tai-pei, Taiwan had much representa-tion from the Ban Chiang Gang:Thesession“Culturalandbiologicaladaptations during the ‘missing mil-lennia’”wasorganizedbyJoyceandMichael Dega. In that session, Joycegavethepaper: “Humanhabitationofmainland Southeast Asia �000-2000B.C.:Areviewoftheissues,”includingasummaryoftheexistingarchaeologi-cal, palaeoenvironmental, and osteo-logicaldatafromthatperiod.The session “Terra incognita? ThematuringofarchaeologyinThailand”was organized by Chris King andChureekamol (Soi) Onsuwan. Inthat session, Chris gave the paper:“Paleodietary change in northeastThailand: A stable isotopic pilotstudy.” Soi gave the paper: “MetalAge complexity in Thailand: Socio-political development and landscapeuseintheUpperChaoPhrayaBasin”on her recently completed fieldworkforherdissertationatUPenn.Joyce

along with Daniel Penny, BernardMaloney, and Lisa Kealhofer gavethepaper: “Vegetation changes fromthe Terminal Pleistocene throughthe Holocene from three areas ofarchaeological significance in Thai-land” summarizing results from theThailandPalaeoenvironmentProject.Vince PigottandKaren Mudargavethe paper: “Subsistence changes andcommunity-based copper productioninprehistoriccentralThailand”fromtheirworkontheThailandArchaeo-metallurgyProject.Thesession“Thaiceramicstudies—current research” was organized byJudy VoelkerandSawangLertrit.Inthatsession,BillHendersongavethepaper:“CreatingatypologyofSakonNakhon Basin rim sherds—problemsandpotentialsofthenewtechnology”onhis�0yearodysseysortingoutBanChiangrimforms.

PUBlICATIONS IN PrESSv“Pottery anatomy: Review of ba-sic nomenclature as a step toward asearchablerimformdatabasefortheSakonNakhonBasin,”by JoyceandBillHendersonwillappearinthenextissueoftheBulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association.v“VegetationchangesfromtheLatePleistocene through the Holocenefrom three areas of archaeologicalsignificance in Thailand,” by Joycewith Daniel Penny, Lisa Kealhofer,and Bernard Maloney will appearin a forthcoming issueofQuaternary International.v“Paleodietary change among pre-statemetal age societies innortheastThailand: A pilot study using bonestable isotope,” by Chris Kingand Lynette Norr will appear inBioarchaeology of the Prehistoric South East Asia-Pacific Region, edited byMarcF.OxenhamandNancyTayles.Cambridge University Press. (Chris used Ban Chiang as the pilot study.)vApaperonHoabinhianstonetools

coauthoredbyJoycewillbepublishedin an edited volume on SoutheastAsianarchaeology.

VISITOrS TO ThE BAN ChIANG lABvVince Pigott visitedtheLabinthefalltodiscussthestatusof“TheMetalsVolume.”vChris King visitedus foracoupleof weeks in the summer 2002 toupgrade the bibliographic databaseand prepare the poster presentationon the Southeast Asian Archaeol-ogy Scholarly Website fortheEu-ropeanAssociationofSoutheastAsianArchaeologistsatSigtuna,Sweden.vParitta Chalermpow Koananta-kool,DirectoroftheSirindhornAn-thropologyCentreinBangkok,visitedthe Ban Chiang Lab in September.Joyce was away, so Chris Sherman gaveheraninformativetourofthelabaswellastheMuseum.

GrANTS rECEIVEdvSoireceivedaprestigiousWenner- GrengrantforherPhDfieldworkinThailandthispastyear.vVince received a generous grantfrom the National Science Foun-dation foranalysisofbiologicaldatafrom the Thailand Archaeometal-lurgy Project excavations in centralThailand.

OThEr NEwSvWe were deeply saddened to hearaboutthedeathoflongtimeBanChi-angvolunteer,Sally Ann Yeager,July22,2002.OurthoughtsarewithSal’sfamilyduringthistimeofloss.vJoyce was interviewed in spring2002byMartinRedfernoftheBBC World Service. Inthepieceentitled,“Discovery: First Technology: Metals,” Joyce discussed the contribution ofBanChiang tounderstandingglobaldevelopmentofbronzesmeltingtech-nologyduringprehistory.

notesLAB

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Bill Canning is ajunior anthropologymajor with classicalstudies and Eng-lish minors. For thecourseofthisyear,hehasbeenmovingtheBanChiangpotscol-lectioninthecavern-

oussub-basementoftheUPennMuseumtomakewayforsprinklerinstallationandhasbefriendedanumberofroachesandothersubterraneandwellingcreatures.Afterfinishinghisundergraduatedegree,Billplansonattend-inggraduateschooltostudyHistoricArchaeology.

Daniel Agee is afreshman in theCollege who ten-tatively plans tomajorinbiochem-istry. Throughoutthe course of thisyear, Daniel has

beenmovingpotsintheMuseum’ssub-basementandmeetinglotsofBill’sroachfriends.Afterfinishinghisundergraduatedegree,Danielplanstoattendmedicalschool.

Helen Chuang is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. She is currently a 2004 candidate for a MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) degree in painting at U

Penn. Her work-study job is illustrating metals and clay pipes for future Ban Chiang monographs. She received the Susan Coslett Cromwell traveling schol-arship and will be spending the summer in Western Australia painting landscapes and wildflowers. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a professional ca-reer in painting.

Dana Katz is origi-nally from Tel Aviv, Israel. She served as a military analyst in the Military Intelligence of the Israeli Defense Forces for two years. She is an art history major and an Italian

minor in the college. For the past year she has been the bibliographer for the Ban Chiang Project. Dana plans to continue her studies in Italian art history in graduate school.

FRIENDS of BAN CHIANG�260SouthStreetPhiladelphia,PA�9�04-6��2

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4728 Baltimore Ave.Philadelphia, PA

215-726-1095

This Lao/Thai restaurant has been reviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine as well as our own group of well traveled Ban Chiang Gangers.

It is unbeatable for its authenticity and value.

GRAND OPENING!The Vientiane Café

new faces in the Ban Chiang Lab