Evidence first. Interpretation kept apart.

The Architectural Evidence System (AES) develops from the author's 2016 MA research in Art History at Silpakorn University, Art history database : Chedi's database development (การออกแบบฐานข้อมูลทางประวัติศาสตร์ศิลปะ : กรณีศึกษาการพัฒนาฐานข้อมูลเจดีย์ในศิลปะอยุธยา).

That study designed an online art-historical database with chedi in Ayutthaya art as its case study. It set out to record chedi systematically, to retrieve and display them in line with art-historical concepts, and to classify them by form and period. Twenty-six chedi were selected through fieldwork, one for each form, according to surviving condition, clarity of form and dating, and the database was built in PHP and MySQL.

The study is the research foundation of this project. AES is a later and substantially expanded system: the functions described on this page (provenance, interpretation records, review status, 3D models, linked drawings and the datasets beyond Ayutthaya chedi) were developed afterwards and are not part of the 2016 work.

View original thesis record →Silpakorn University Repository (SURE)

Independent Study, M.A. in Art History, Silpakorn University. In Thai.
In the SURE repository, Independent Studies and theses are grouped under the metadata category ‘Thesis.’

Research lineage

1. 2016 · M.A. Independent StudyArt history databaseAyutthaya chedi, 26 records
2. MethodStructured art-history databaseRecording, retrieval, classification by form and period
3. 2025– · AESArchitectural Evidence SystemEvidence + provenance + interpretation + review

Continuity of method

The current system extends the earlier method rather than replacing it. It adds evidence provenance, source tracking, interpretation management, revision history, architectural comparison, 3D representation, linked plans, sections and elevations, and comparative datasets beyond a single monument group, including the first steps toward regional datasets.

What the 2016 reference supports

The citation above documents where the project began. It is the source for the 26 Ayutthaya chedi records that came from it, and for nothing else. Later monuments, the Lanna and other regional chedi, the halls and the 3D interiors each carry their own sources and bibliography.

The Architectural Evidence System (AES) treats a building as the interface to a body of evidence. Each building is broken down into spaces, architectural elements (walls, doors, windows, columns, roofs) and the objects placed on them (door-leaf deities, mural panels, Buddha images). Every one of these can be linked to evidence records. Where source-based evidence is available, records identify the source and page or equivalent locator. Missing, provisional or unresolved provenance is explicitly marked.

Records are compiled from published scholarship, theses and official publications. The exception is the door and window deities of Wat Bowon Sathan Sutthawat in the 3D Viewer, which come from field photographs and a plan of the building. The main sources are listed below. Where source-based evidence is available, records identify the source and page or equivalent locator. Missing, provisional or unresolved provenance is explicitly marked.

A source is marked SOURCE CHECKED when the document itself has been directly consulted. This confirms the provenance of the citation, not the truth of every claim made by the source. A source known only through a citation in another work (for example a chronicle quoted in a thesis) is marked UNVERIFIED SOURCE, and the panel says so wherever it is used.

Evidence and interpretation live in separate tables. An evidence record documents something (a photograph, a measured drawing, a passage in a thesis); it never argues. An interpretation states a position on a research question, names who proposed it, and lists the evidence that supports or contradicts it. When sources disagree, each position is kept as its own interpretation and marked disputed. Nothing is resolved silently.

Epistemic labels

The model uses six labels. The interface currently displays five of them; DER is part of the methodological model but is not yet supported at record level (see below).

Derived values and interpretations

The two categories are separated by what produces the value. If a stated rule applied to recorded data always gives the same result, the result is DER. If producing it requires choosing criteria or weighing evidence, it is INT.

Some views compute results from the recorded data: chedi similarity and trait lineages, the closest period for a chedi form, matches between a building and the rank rules, and the position of an element on the vāstu maṇḍala. The application currently labels all of these INT. Existing records have not been relabelled: a result moves to DER only when its status is explicitly established, record by record. Analytical outputs are not independent evidence. They should be evaluated against the underlying records, sources and stated method. The maṇḍala overlay does not claim that builders used the maṇḍala.

• Page-level sourcing. Data taken from a document are entered with its table or page number, so those values can be traced back. Values without a locator are marked as such.
• Checks against page images. The chedi component lists were checked against images of the 2016 study's pages (tables 8–13). Every correction is logged with its reason and page; the original value is kept.
• Conflicts are kept. Where a source contradicts itself, or two sources disagree, the conflict is logged rather than fixed: 33 for the halls (14 of them disagreements over mural subjects at Wat Ko Kaeo) and 8 in the chedi data.
• Assumed values are named. The parametric hall models list every dimension that was assumed or derived rather than read from a source.
• Stable identifiers. Record IDs (AE0016, EVD2001, AY-014) are never renumbered, so links and citations keep working.

The interface is in Thai, so these labels appear in Thai on the pages.

• Drawings are explanatory. The plans, elevations and sections in the Explorer are parametric drawings rendered by the system from recorded geometry, which includes assumed values where the sources give none (each is listed). Other plans and models are redrawn from figures in the sources, and many mural positions are schematic. These drawings are explanatory and interpretive. They are not measured drawings unless a drawing is explicitly marked as measured, and must not be used for construction or restoration.
• Coverage is uneven. Wat Tha Karong is modelled element by element. Five other halls are parametric models, one per plan type. Most sites have no coordinates yet.
• Images. Photographs and drawings reproduced from publications belong to their owners. Permission is still being sought for some of them.
• Work in progress. The database is updated continuously. Cite the date you accessed a record (see below).

Cite the system as a whole, or a single record. Every record page in the Explorer and the Chedi Database has a Cite this record box that builds the citation and a permanent link for you.

Where a record is based on a published work, please cite that work as well. Its full reference is on the record page.

Compiler: T. Pilunthasukala 0009-0001-4641-6920

A. Original scholarly and editorial content

The selection and arrangement of the database, original descriptions, original diagrams and redrawn plans, and original 3D visual assets are © 2025–2026 The ArtHistory.org, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. You may share them with credit, but not for commercial purposes and not in modified form.

B. Software and source code

Software and source code are not licensed under the Creative Commons licence stated above unless a separate software licence is explicitly provided.

C. Third-party material

Third-party photographs, drawings, quotations and publications remain subject to the rights of their respective owners and are not relicensed by The ArtHistory.org.

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