Ships and Maritime Activities in the North-eastern Indian Ocean: re-analysis of rock art of Tham Phrayanaga (Viking Cave), southern Thailand

Abstract

Tham Phrayananga is a limestone cave on Phi Phi Le Island in the Andaman Sea, off south-west Thailand. A 2010 survey recorded 80 painted figures on the cave wall, in three different panels. They include nine identifiable ship types, other unidentified ships, non-marine images and a Jawi script. They are monochrome (black, red-brown, or dark-brown), or bichrome (dark-brown with yellow-brown, or red-brown with black). The vessels portrayed can be compared with local and overseas ships from China, Europe and Indonesia. Whether local or from distant ports, all were involved in the Southeast Asian maritime trade and voyages of the 15th–20th centuries.