Satingpra – Srivijaya Harbour Chain, Songkhla Lagoon
Sating Phra · Sathingpra Srivijaya harbour
Dvaravati to Early Ayutthaya (c. 700–1400 CE)·Srivijaya / Dvaravati / Thai·🇹🇭 Songkhla Province, Satingpra Peninsula, Thailand
About
About Satingpra – Srivijaya Harbour Chain, Songkhla Lagoon
Satingpra peninsula on Songkhla's shallow lagoon was a Srivijaya moated port chain (8th–13th c.) with silted ship channels now 1 km inland and brick wharves at –0.5 m. Fine Arts–Miksic coring (1980–2015) mapped three moated harbours – Satingpra, Phatthalung and Chaiya-chain links – each 300×200 m with brick quays buried 1 m under paddy, and Songkhla lagoon cores with Dvaravati pottery sealing canal mud. The peninsula's beach-ridge silting after 1300 CE shifted harbour to Songkhla deepwater port. Moated enclosure and canal network is type-site for Srivijayan harbour urbanism.
Why it mattersOnly Srivijayan moated harbour chain; wharf cores anchor Songkhla lagoon progradation and Dvaravati–Srivijaya transition.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether chain harbours operated simultaneously or sequentially
Theories
- 01Songkhla bar silt after 1300 monsoon failure killed Srivijayan transhipment
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 700 CE (Srivijaya moated harbours); wharves 8th c.
- Period
- Dvaravati to Early Ayutthaya (c. 700–1400 CE)
- Culture
- Srivijaya / Dvaravati / Thai
- Purpose
- Srivijayan strait transhipment harbour – tin, ceramics via Songkhla lagoon
- Abandoned
- c. 1400 CE (lagoon silt and Ayutthaya shift)
- Rediscovered
- 1978 Fine Arts; 1985 Miksic lagoon coring
- Excavation
- Buried
700 CE
Srivijaya builds moated harbour chain on peninsula
1300 CE
Beach ridge closes lagoon causeway, harbour silts
1985
Miksic cores brick wharf at –0.5 m
On the ground
Structures & features
7.4730° N · 100.4280° E · 2 m · 3 mapped features
Moated Harbour Wharf
quay150 m brick wharf at –0.5 m – Srivijayan lagoon harbour at Satingpra – Srivijaya Harbour Chain, Songkhla Lagoon
7.4750° N · 100.4300° EPhatthalung Canal
canal2 km canal linking moated harbours – silted earthwork at Satingpra – Srivijaya Harbour Chain, Songkhla Lagoon
7.4710° N · 100.4260° ESongkhla Lagoon Cores
harbourLagoon cores with Dvaravati pottery at 1 m at Satingpra – Srivijaya Harbour Chain, Songkhla Lagoon
7.4730° N · 100.4290° E