Ban Chi­ang is con­sid­ered the most impor­tant pre­his­toric set­tle­ment so far dis­cov­ered in South-East Asia. It marks an impor­tant stage in human cul­tur­al, social and tech­no­log­i­cal evo­lu­tion. The site presents the ear­li­est evi­dence of farm­ing in the region and of the man­u­fac­ture and use of met­als.