Gina Palefsky

GINA PALEFSKY, then a graduate student at University of California, Merced, California, was awarded funding in October 2019 to aid research on “Embodied Boundaries: A Bioarchaeological Approach to Foodways and Community Organization in Metal Age Central Thailand (c. 1100 BCE – CE 500),” supervised by Dr. Christina Torres. Food is an everyday aspect of human experience that represents both a biological necessity and a foundational aspect of social identity. Specific foods or categories of foods are frequently associated with local or regional traditions and shared interactions surrounding their procurement, preparation, and consumption can create and maintain social bonds and boundaries. Traces of the food a person consumed are preserved in their bones and teeth after death, making it possible to reconstruct diet and region of residence through isotopic analyses of archaeological skeletal remains. This research investigated patterns of mobility, dietary practices, and aspects of embodied identity among Metal Age inhabitants of central Thailand to better understand community social organization from site and regional perspectives.