An archaeological mission led by Professor Dr. Santi Pailoplee from Chulalongkorn University discovered evidence of an ancient earthen embankment around the old city of Nakhon Ratchasima in northeastern Thailand. The finding indicates a previously unknown city existed underneath the center of modern Nakhon Ratchasima. The discovery was partly accidental and was made using aerial photographs taken in 1954 by the Royal Thai Survey Department.
When examining the aerial photographs, Pailoplee identified an earthen embankment extending in straight lines, suggesting artificial construction. Calculations showed that the area of the ancient city was about 3.4 square kilometers. If verified, the lost city would be twice the size of the old city of Nakhon Ratchasima and larger than other ancient communities in the area.
The way the embankment forms a near-square with the canal suggests evidence of an ancient civilization, potentially predating the construction of the old moat during King Narai the Great's reign. King Narai the Great ruled from 1656 to 1688, a period during which Nakhon Ratchasima was likely formed as part of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
Previously, traces of humans activity from 2,400 years ago were found in the same area.
Pailoplee's team combined the photographs with known behaviors of two streams in the area, which they noted had "abnormal behavior," to determine that the embankments were once created by an ancient community. The streams matched waterways near other ancient Thai communities that created similar embankments to direct water flow, possibly toward nearby settlements.
While sections of the western and eastern embankments now overlap with Nakhon Ratchasima's moat, the team believes that one of the embankments eventually became Chompai Road, the main arterial road that cuts through the center of the old city. "The original southern embankment may have been reused, and from being an initial indicator of the boundary of the ancient community, it became the main central road in the old city of Nakhon Ratchasima," said Pailoplee.
"The next step in sorting out the history will require archaeological surveys and excavations to suss out the accuracy of the aerial interpretation," Pailoplee said.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
