Talk:Prehistory of Myanmar

Shan kingdom of Pong

I'm removing the section on this. It's based on the 19th century British understanding of a Shan chronicle. (The extant Shan chronicles date from the 19th century, and their accuracy has been questioned.) The current mainstream understanding is that Shans began to migrate into present-day Myanmar in the late Pagan Empire period (early 13th century). Plus, such a prominent claim--that Pong existed in the first millenium CE--needs to backed by a reliable source. The cited source (The Cultivated Oranges and Lemons, Etc. of India and Ceylon.) is hardly authoritative. I'm sure the author Emanuel Bonavia doesn't claim to be an expert on early Burmese or Shan history.

Now, we could use a section on "Shan" polities that might have existed along the present-day Myanmar-China border. The Shan-speaking state of Mong Mao which came to prominence in the 13th century claims to have been founded in 568 CE. Hybernator (talk) 13:52, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

@Hybernator: No problem with you removing the material on Pong but there are multiple sources out there where it is mentioned. For example The Shan of Burma: Memoirs of a Shan Exile and this, which claims an "authentic" source for an account of the Kingdom of Pong.  Philg88 ^♦talk 05:36, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

@Philg88:, AFAIK, most Shan chronicles were written in the 19th century. Despite claims in the Shan chronicles, Pong is conjecturally dated to the Pagan Empire period. See this map from 1925: [1] Nor is Pong even mentioned in "History of the Shan State from Its Origins to 1962", probably the most exhaustive book on Shan history by Sai Aung Tun, a respected ethnic Shan historian. According to that book, the earliest Shan polity, Mong Mao, came into being in 568 CE, and the earlier rulers "may have been legendary rulers", and it was only in 1220 that the kingdom came to be "great".Hybernator (talk) 01:09, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

@Hybernator: Fair enough. I'll bow to your superior knowledge in this area, apologies for the interjection.  Philg88 ^♦talk 05:34, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Homo erectus statement does not seem to be credibly sourced

The statement "Homo erectus began to settle in Burma in 750,000 BCE before the arrival of Homo sapiens from Africa" cites an article titled "pIRIR and IR-RF dating of archaeological deposits at Badahlin and Gu Myaung Caves – First luminescence ages for Myanmar". That article does not make that statement anywhere in the article. The wikipedia page "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar" makes a similar claim "Archaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in the region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago, with no more erectus finds after 75,000 years ago" cites a paper titled "Prehistory to Protohistory of Myanmar: A Perspective of Historical Geography." This paper makes the claim that "Homo erectus had lived in Myanmar 750,000 years ago", but did not cite any sources. This means that, although that Wiki statement was cited, the cited source may not be credible and did not cite the source of their statement. Also, the "[48]" entry cited "Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture." However, that article states that "It is agreed that early hominids (Homo erectus) were present in Myanmar as early as 400,000 B.C." Unfortunately, that article did not cite their source for that information too. Not only do the two cited sources conflict with each other on the dates (one article states 750,000 BC, and the other states 400,000 BC), both articles did not cite their source of stating those comments.

Therefore, that statement should be removed until credible undisputed sources are cited. Fixaloticus (talk) 12:25, 10 July 2022 (UTC)