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The document discusses the archaeological significance of the Kyontu region, particularly the Kyaikkatha site, which features terracotta plaques and a horde of 5th-century silver coins. Kyaikkatha is noted for its large walled structure and various artifacts that suggest habitation patterns from the 5th to 9th century AD. Ground surveys have been conducted, but no full excavations or radiocarbon dating have been performed at the site.

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Saw Tun Lynn
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3 views5 pages

2

The document discusses the archaeological significance of the Kyontu region, particularly the Kyaikkatha site, which features terracotta plaques and a horde of 5th-century silver coins. Kyaikkatha is noted for its large walled structure and various artifacts that suggest habitation patterns from the 5th to 9th century AD. Ground surveys have been conducted, but no full excavations or radiocarbon dating have been performed at the site.

Uploaded by

Saw Tun Lynn
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

204

Bago is Kyontu, where the terracotta plaques


we looked at above are found. This region has
•
,,
I
been referred to as the heart of Ramaiina,
possibly linked to Bagan period references to
-· •
Ukkaladesa.m The Kyontu mound is one of a
series of lateritic elevations in the otherwise flat
landscape, just east of Lakonbyi, one of the
much later 32 towns or myo of Hanthawaddy­
all of interest for their possible reflection of
l'
. earlier habitation patterns. 226
Kyaikkatha is the largest walled site in the
- laterite�rich zone. It was first identified on aerial
photographs by Aung Myint in 1976 and verified
on the ground in 1981. 227 During survey, a horde
of conch-Srivatsa silver coins dated to the 5th
century AD was found at Kyo Bin Kon Kyaung,
a monastery on the southeast of the site.228 The·
Kyaikkatha walls, made of earth, laterite and
bricks, form an irregular lozenge, broader on
the east ,vhere they widen to enclose lateritic
high ground and a large partly manmade lake,
Ye-leh-kyun. Finger-marked bricks are found at
structures throughout the site and also the
Kyaikkanon stupa at the centre of surrounding villages of Supanu, Kalun, Malawchaung, Kalatcha and
Kyaikkatha. Mokkamu. 229 At the centre is Kyaikkanon Zeidi at an altitude of 49.8
metres, considerably higher than the western wall, possibly the
'cosmological centre' in San Win's view. The inner walls are steep­
East sector Kyaikkatha, large partly sided, separated by narrow gullies circa 10-15 metres in width. The
manmade lake, Ye-leh-kyun, with
Su-taung-pye 'wish-fulfilling' pagoda in the southwest comer of the
seasonal rice and water control
device; looking east towards old site lies on a 15 m contour line in low�lying land stretching west
Kyaikhtoyoe pagoda. to the Sittaung. 2'0 Just inside the eastern wall is a laterite structure,

• •• •
'PYU' AND 'MON' · 207

Ground survey at both Sittaung and Kaw Htin has been


undertaken by At1ng Myint and subsequently San Win, but no full
mapping or excavation has taken place. No radiocarbon dates were
obtained from the Kyaikkatha excavations. However, the horde of
silver coins, the pottery and terracotta reliefs from KKT7, the stupa•
type votive tablet, blue glass beads and finger-marked bricks all
support a date of circa the 5th to 9th century AD. As we will see,
this is similar to the evidence from Winka and Ayetthema, 25 km to
the southeast at Kelasa.

Pot sherds with triangular and


circular motifs from KKT7 1 after
excavation drawings.

..a '" ll

Round bottom pot inscribed with


cross-hatch pattern on. lower
portion from KKT7.
(After excavation drawings}

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