Officials from the Fine Arts Office 7, have excavated the Wiang Tha Kan archaeological site, San Pa Tong District, Chiang Mai province.
As many as 23 ancient human skeletons and the skeleton of a horse were found. They are thought to be at least a thousand years old.
The skeletons were found behind a Chedi at Tha Kan Temple, Ban Klang subdistrict, San Pa Tong District, Chiang Mai province.
The ancient Wiang Tha Kan city was a fortress of the Hariphunchai kingdom. It is more than 1,400 years old. Twenty-three skeletons were found two meters below the surface.
All the skeletons lay pointing to the West and Northwest. They were laid on their backs with knees bent.
Ms. Nongchanai Tharaksa, operational archaeologist from Fine Arts Office 7, Chiang Mai, who was a member of the excavation team, said this was their second excavation.
The first excavation was conducted in 2012 and skeletons of horses and humans were found then too. The second excavation was undertaken in the same area.
The skeletons will undergo DNA testing in order to determine their age range. The officials excavated further and found 23 human skeletons in total.
They belonged to men and women and a child, not above two. They are believed to be older than one thousand years and the area could have been a cemetery.
However, the officials can’t tell if they died as a result of war or an outbreak of disease.
