The
Bor Krai cave is one of the finest surviving log coffin sites, with
many coffins in excellent condition and a greater range of coffin head
styles than any other site. The site is unusual because the 3x3 m
entrance is tucked away in the forest rather than high up on a cliff
face as is more typical for log coffin sites in Pang Ma Pha. The cave
is on two levels separated by a 5 m vertical drop. The upper level
consists of a single chamber which is partially day-lit and has only a
few coffin fragments in poor condition.
The
lower level consists of two chambers which are
absolutely dark and
tomb-like. The first chamber is dominated by two magnificent coffins
complete with lids and still on their supporting columns. The floor is
littered with a profusion of broken coffins carved in a wide variety of
unique styles, including some with heads carved in the shape of an
animal. The inner chamber is long and narrow and packed with coffins on
2 tiers. Some coffins are supported by posts hewn from older coffins.
The 2 cm holes near the end of almost all of the coffins are not part
of the original design but were made in 2001 by a research team from
Mahidol Universiy who were trying to study the prehistorical
environment from the tree rings (Sidisunthorn et al., 2006).
References
Sidisunthorn,
P., Gardner, S., Smart, D., 2006.
Caves of Northern
Thailand. Sirivatana Interprint Public Co., Ltd., Thailand.
Schuler,
U., 2008. Towards regionalisation of soils in Northern Thailand and
consequences for mapping approaches and upscaling procedures.
Hohenheimer Bodenkundliche Hefte 89: 1-308.
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