Cambodian Archaeology

... Collapse and Regeneration from Funan to Angkor The history of the Khmer civilization is characterized by cycles of fragmen-tation, collapse, and reorganization. ... When the Thai army sacked the capital of Angkor in ad 1432, they conquered a distinctly Khmer kingdom. ...

Archaeological data over the past two decades have contributed to our understanding of the transition into the historic period in Southeast Asia and rebutted outdated models of externally stimulated complex polity formation. This article investigates the transition into the Pre-Angkorian period 300–500 CE based on a model constructed using archaeological data from Thala Borivat, Cambodia. Data from Thala Borivat suggest a pattern of continuity where smaller proto-historic settlements may have become incorporated c.300–500 CE into larger ones which became major Pre-Angkorian centres. This phenomenon coincided with evidence of increasing inter- and intra-regional interaction following the proto-historic period. This article argues that the model can be used to reinterpret the pattern observed in major Pre-Angkorian centres in the Mekong Delta and northeast Thailand. This pattern is complemented by the spatial correlation between the chronometrically-anchored ceramic traditions in proto-historic and early historic period Cambodia that suggests the continuity of local communities. Spatial correlation between prehistoric sites and inscriptions recording Pre-Angkorian elites, particularly the poñ, mratāñ, and kings provides similar patterns of continuity between the elites of the late proto-historic to the Pre-Angkorian periods.

From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century Cambodia’s coinage consisted of small  silver uniface coins with animal or vegetal designs. These coins continue to defy detailed attribution as their designs are without inscriptions and the images on them cannot be interpreted to indicate the time or place of issue. This study sets out to analyse the information available from Cambodian royal chronicles and from foreign accounts of Cambodian money to create a background for the early history of the coinage and to collect data from the coins themselves, such as variations in design and weight standards towards creating a framework for further study.

Book 2 of a Trilogy that traces the advent of Hinduism on South East Asian and Indo-Chinese countries. This part II deals with Cambodia and Indonesia and its architecture and Hindu temple construction and mysteries surrounding them and seeks to answer these

This book is designed to interest both the general public and the expert, to round out and deepen the initial assumptions arising from the 2012 discoveries and reported on in an earlier publication, "The Hoards of Angkor Borei". But it is not simply an inventory, a description, a documenting of the collection of the most ancient coins discovered and acquired in Cambodia.

Its first purpose is to weave together the discoveries made over the last century on various sites and in different contexts. It attempts to interpret historically and economically the presence of local minting that imitated or reinterpreted the models and symbols that prevailed in the rest of Indian-influenced Southeast Asia.

How can the presence of Hellenized and Roman coins, originating from the Mediterranean Basin of from Indo-Greek kingdoms, be explained? How can the many medallions and coins belonging to the vast family of coins from the Indian-influenced kingdoms of Southeast Asia, particularly Pyu and Mon that thrived in what is now Myanmar and Thailand, be explained? And finally, how can the presence of coins that copy and imitate, but also reinterpret and combine in a novel way the monetary symbols cataloged to data be explained?

Digging deeper into a history that remains obscure in many respects, this work will foster or rekindle a lively debate and be of passionate interest to Cambodians wanting to become familiar with and understand their distant heritage.

Paper read at the SPAFACON2021 (The 4th SEAMEO SPAFA International Conference on Southeast Asian Archaeology and Fine Arts), held online from 13-17 December 2021.

Abstract
Based on the two inscriptions dated Wednesday 8 September 1546 and Sunday 27 February 1564 on the walls of the North Gallery-East Wing and the East Gallery-North Wing of the 12th century Angkor Wat, George Coedes has dated the completion of the bas reliefs on these wings to the 16th century. This dating underscores that the bas reliefs on the walls of the galleries of the third enclosure of Angkor Wat were not all carved during the reign of a single Khmer monarch.  More significantly is the presence of bossed gongs solely in the north gallery – east wing, where, in other galleries gongs are not illustrated.  Two types of bossed gongs are carved – suspended bossed gongs, single or in pairs, and circle gongs with eight to nine bossed gongs.  It was during the reign of Ang Chan (1528–1566) that the bas-reliefs of the North-East gallery and the East-North gallery were carved in the 16th century.. However, it remains unresolved why gongs were not carved on the two wings that have direct references to Khmer monarchs --- the west-south gallery, with the narrative of the battle of Kurukshetra and the south-west gallery depicts the war exploits of King Suryavarman II, presumably carved the earliest by the 12th century.  Such grand narratives are usually accompanied by gongs.  By the 12th-13th century also, bossed gongs had been circulating along the Gulf of Thailand, Sumatra, Java and Mindanao.

នៃវិចិត្រសាលខាងជើង-ខាងកើតស្លាប និងវិចិត្រសាលខាងកើត-ខាងជើងនៃប្រាសាទអង្គរវត្តសតវត្សទី 12 លោក George Coedes បានចុះកាលបរិច្ឆេទនៃការបញ្ចប់ចម្លាក់លៀននៅលើស្លាបទាំងនេះដល់សតវត្សទី 16 ។ . ការណាត់ជួបនេះបញ្ជាក់ជាចុងក្រោយថា ចម្លាក់លៀននៅលើជញ្ជាំងនៃថែវនៃប្រាសាទអង្គរវត្ត មិនមែនសុទ្ធតែឆ្លាក់ទាំងអស់ក្នុងរជ្ជកាលរបស់ព្រះមហាក្សត្រខ្មែរតែមួយនោះទេ។ សំខាន់ជាងនេះទៅទៀតគឺវត្តមានរបស់គងគងដែលមានតែនៅក្នុងវិចិត្រសាលភាគខាងជើង – ស្លាបខាងកើត ដែលនៅក្នុងវិចិត្រសាលផ្សេងទៀត ឃ្មោងមិនត្រូវបានបង្ហាញទេ។ គងគងពីរប្រភេទត្រូវបានឆ្លាក់ គឺគងគងដែលព្យួរជាគូទោល ឬជាគូ និងគងរង្វង់ដែលមានគងប្រាំបីទៅប្រាំបួន។

Southeast Asia’s earliest cities emerged by the mid-first millennium CE after more than one thousand years’ growth toward urbanism and complexity. These early cities appeared both on the coasts and in river networks; their inhabitants engaged in trade and agriculture, and selectively embraced urban and religious concepts from neighboring cultures with which they interacted. This chapter examines competing arguments for how and why cities first appeared in Southeast Asia, their timing, scale, and form. Despite heterogeneity in urban pattern, early Southeast Asian cities shared key
structural features in configuration and social construction that reflect pan-regional ideological systems. Fewer urban forms arose in insular Southeast Asia compared with the mainland, and they emerged later in time; selected examples are also included for comparison. Early Southeast Asian urban systems were participants in the process Sanskrit cosmopolitanism (sensu Pollock), but a growing body of archaeological research identifies regionalization in urban form that distinguished
even the earliest Southeast Asian cities them from their South Asian counterparts.

Cambodia also Kampuchea or Royaume du Cambodge is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia hosting the biggest Hindu Temple complex in the world, but more than 4000 Hindu temples are spread all over the country. Cambodian architecture is very diverse in style, design and features-illustrating that Hindu temple architecture was in its formative stage and was yet to arrive at the standardised situation of later centuries. Nevertheless, the influence of Gupta-era buildings on later Cambodian temple architecture is indisputable and continued right through to the medieval period. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism(and later Buddhism)  and the construction of numerous temples- on a gigantic scale and magnificence. The How, Why and What is explained in this paper.Most comprehensive paper on Cambodian Temples and Its Hindu Architecture

This is the first Book of a Trilogy that traces the growth of Hinduism in South East Asia. In this first Volume we focus our scope of Ancient India and how the South Indian Traders were able to convert the Cambodians and other nations to Hinduism. In the other two Books we will visit Cambodia and other South East Asian and Ind -Chinese countries to follow the growth of Hinduism there and the in the process built some of the most magnificent religious structures known to mankind.

Early political, social and cultural history of Cambodia remains the realm of enigmas. Traditional accounts of a succession of the great kingdoms of Funan, Chenla and Angkor Empire (Briggs 1951; Coedès 1968) seem but a simplification. Recent scholarship tends to view the early political landscape of Cambodia in terms of many small principalities and unstable claims to sovereignty (Vickery 1998). Furthermore, scholars have changed the term 'Indian' to 'Indic', stressing the local culture substratum prevalence over external influence and the outward resemblance of scripts, linguistic features and sculptural styles. In 1937, the famous French historian and epigrapher George Coedès opened his seminal Inscriptions du Cambodge (1937-1966) with the Sanskrit Phnom Preah Vihear inscription K. 733. He gave its French translation and chose this text because of its brilliant Sanskrit poetry and many references to Indian culture. Recently Swati Chemburkar and Shivani Kapoor (2018), and Dominic Goodall (2019) made use of this text examining the Pāśupata School in early Cambodia. My present article focuses on a few points. First, I discuss how many kings named Bhavavarman are known from early Cambodian inscriptions of the sixth and seventh centuries. Second, I offer English and Russian translations of the Phnom Preah Vihear inscription K. 733. Third, I hope to bring together all the references to the Sanskrit root vidyā- in Cambodian Sanskrit and Old Khmer epigraphy and to examine its relation to the Pāśupata School of Shaivism. Fourth, I aim to show the Indic or Indian traits in ancient and medieval Cambodia.
For citation: Zakharov, Anton O. The Inscription K. 733 from Phnom Preah Vihear and the Root
vidyā- in Cambodia. Vostok (Oriens). No. 5. 2019. Pp. 21–32. DOI: 10.31857/ S086919080006819-7

จารึกวัดจงกอเป็นจารึกหลักหนึ่งที่น่าสนใจ เพราะเป็นจารึกหลักเดียวของพระเจ้าชยวีรวรมัน หรือ ชัยวีรวรมัน ที่พบในประเทศไทย อีกทั้งตัวจารึกเอกก็ระบุปีศักราชไว้แน่นอน ซึ่งเป็นข้อมูลสําคัญ ในทางประวัติศาสตร์เกี่ยวกับอาณาจักรขอมเมืองพระนคร ในบริเวณพื้นที่แถบที่ราบสูงโคราช

Not incorporating ancient Hindu Naga beliefs
SYNOPSIS Common Elements of Religion: One of the hallmarks of religion is a belief in supernatural beings and forces. They can take a variety forms, not all of which are found in every religion. The beliefs usually fall into one of five categories: animatism , animism , ancestral spirits , gods or goddesses, and minor supernatural beings. Animatism A belief in a supernatural power not part of supernatural beings is referred to as animatism. For those who hold this belief, the power is usually impersonal, unseen, and potentially everywhere. It is neither good nor evil, but it is powerful and dangerous if misused. It is something like electricity or "the force" in the Star Wars movies. Animatism is a widespread belief, especially in small-scale societies. Among the Polynesian cultures of the South Pacific, this power is commonly known as "mana". For them it is a force that is inherent in all objects, plants, and animals (including people) to different degrees. Some things or people have more of it than others and are, therefore, potentially dangerous. For instance, a chief may have so much of it that he must be carried around all of the time. If he were to walk on the ground, sufficient residual amounts of his mana might remain in his footprints to harm ordinary people if they later stepped on them. Volcanoes and some other places were thought to have concentrated mana and were, therefore, very dangerous. In this paper we willexamine the ancient legands the Khemer believe in That of being ancestors to the Nagas or Serpents tribes. This is the full story covering nagas in Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Laos and Thiland.

At its apex, the Khmer empire was Southeast Asia’s largest and most influential civilization: its civilizational reach stretched across several of today’s nation-states, and its core contained one of the world’s largest pre-industrial urban complexes. The roots of 9th-14th century Angkorian civilization appeared in the Mekong delta more than a millennium before Jayavarman II declared himself the universal Khmer monarch in 802 CE. At the start and to the south was the early polity that 3rd century Chinese emissaries called Funan, and that contained urban centers, walled palaces, libraries, and rulers. The earliest Khmer writing appears in the 7th century in this region, or nearly four centuries after the Han Chinese reports of Funan. By the 7th century, Khmer elite inscribed their legitimacy onto brick shrines and temples they commissioned to honor Indic gods across the delta’s landscape. Elite sponsorship of the construction and maintenance of ritual spaces required wealth; so did their support for ritual practices at these places, which materialized order that structured pre-Angkorian society. The rise of the pre-Angkorian Khmer state occurred during a period of fluctuating international trade in goods and ideas, and previous models have emphasized international trade as the catalyst for early state formation. This chapter studies early state formation instead through the development of the Mekong Delta’s 6th-8th century monumental art and architecture. Brick constructions, their dedicatory inscriptions, and the statuary they housed created symbols of cultural commonality that linked formerly autonomous communities into coherent regional systems. The Lower Mekong Archaeological Project survey area includes the early urban center of Angkor Borei. Research described here emphasizes archaeological patterning in social power to offer Southeast Asian perspectives on the articulation between ideology and social order in early states.

Angkor, the temple and palace complex of the ancient Khmer capital in Cambodia is one of the world’s most famous monuments. Hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the globe visit Angkor Park, one of the finest UNESCO World Heritage Sites, every year. Since its UNESCO listing in 1992, the Angkor region has experienced an overwhelming mushrooming of hotels and restaurants; the infrastructure has been hardly able to cope with the rapid growth of mass tourism and its needs. This applies to the access and use of monument sites as well. The authors of this book critically describe and analyse the heritage nomination processes in Cambodia, especially in the case of Angkor and the temple of Preah Vihear on the Cambodian/Thai border. They examine the implications the UNESCO listings have had with regard to the management of Angkor Park and its inhabitants on the one hand, and to the Cambodian/Thai relationships on the other. Furthermore, they address issues of development through tourism that UNESCO has recognised as a welcome side-effect of heritage listings. They raise the question whether development through tourism deepens already existing inequalities rather than contributing to the promotion of the poor.

This chapter summarizes the chronology, technology and contexts of earthenwares recovered from Cambodia's archaeological sites. It compares Cambodian archaeological ceramics with those found elsewhere in mainland Southeast Asia, and identifies directions for future research.

A paper in Proceeding of the  6th International Conference on “South East Asian Cultural Values: The Values of Cultural Heritage” December 16-17, 2010, Angkor Century Hotel, Siem Reap City, Cambodia organized by Asia Research Center, Royal Academy of Cambodia. pp.189-196.

At its apex, the Khmer empire was Southeast Asia’s largest and most influential civilization: its civilizational reach stretched across several of today’s nation-states, and its core contained one of the world’s largest pre-industrial urban complexes. The roots of 9th-14th century Angkorian civilization appeared in the Mekong delta more than a millennium before Jayavarman II declared himself the universal Khmer monarch in 802 CE.  At the start and to the south was the early polity that 3rd century Chinese emissaries called Funan, and that contained urban centers, walled palaces, libraries, and rulers.  The earliest Khmer writing appears in the 7th century in this region, or nearly four centuries after the Han Chinese reports of Funan. By the 7th century, Khmer elite inscribed their legitimacy onto brick shrines and temples they commissioned to honor Indic gods across the delta’s landscape.  Elite sponsorship of the construction and maintenance of ritual spaces required wealth; so did their support for ritual practices at these places, which materialized order that structured pre-Angkorian society.  The rise of the pre-Angkorian Khmer state occurred during a period of fluctuating international trade in goods and ideas, and previous models have emphasized international trade as the catalyst for early state formation.

This chapter studies early state formation instead through the development of the Mekong Delta’s 6th-8th century monumental art and architecture. Brick constructions, their dedicatory inscriptions, and the statuary they housed created symbols of cultural commonality that linked formerly autonomous communities into coherent regional systems.  The Lower Mekong Archaeological Project survey area includes the early urban center of Angkor Borei. Research described here emphasizes archaeological patterning in social power to offer Southeast Asian perspectives on the articulation between ideology and social order in early states.

Chinese annals and indigenous inscriptions document a succession of three early states in the lower Mekong basin during the first millennium A.D. The earliest (“Funan”) emerged in the Mekong delta; the next (“Chenla”) materialized c. 250 km north along the Mekong River; the third (the Khmer state) surfaced two centuries later along the bank of Lake Tonle Sap.  Previous work has focused on the emergence of each polity, rather than on patterns of collapse and regeneration in this continuous but dynamic Khmer state.  This paper examines evidence for continuities in economic, ideological and political structures in first millennium A.D. Cambodia.

The question of polychromy in ancient Cambodia has always been in the mind of archaeologists or art historian dealing with the Khmer civilization. Thanks to recent analysis and discoveries, this paper aims to give elements regarding the genuine aspect of statuary and religious architecture in ancient Cambodia.

Rarely studied by scholars since the researches undertaken by Louis Malleret at Óc Eo in the 1940s, the small tin artifacts which are characteristics of the Funanese culture flourishing in the Mekong Delta are of comparable interest with the early Southeast Asian currencies. Bearers of indianized auspicious symbols and deities, these objects are rich in information. An unusual and exceptional amulet showing the abhiṣeka of Gaja-Lakṣmī goddess was recently unearthed at Angkor Borei. This religious theme is very rare for pre-Angkorian Cambodia. The iconographic study reveals an original and syncretic composition combining the Indian theme of Śrī-Lakṣmī being anointed with a central element of the old animist aborigenous Khmer tradition, the buffalo sacrifice. A comparative analysis with various examples of depictions of Gaja-Lakṣmī from the Indian Subcontinent and from the Mon Dvāravatī culture brings some additional data to apprehend this document in its global context. Finally, we can hypothesize that the dating of this item may be related to the first three centuries AD. The issuing of this amulet seems to be a local response to a religious movement affecting the entire indianized world during that early historic period.

On June 6, 1913, George Groslier, a twenty-six year old French explorer, set out with a small group of native porters on a six-month trek into the Cambodian wilderness.

A millennium earlier, the Khmer empire had ruled the entire region. In the 15th century, however, the kingdom mysteriously collapsed, with dense jungle quickly covering its fabulous temples. The French government charged Groslier with documenting the most remote edifices of the Khmer legacy — among them Preah Vihear, Wat Phu, Beng Melea and Banteay Chhmar — sites that remain isolated even a century later.

This modern edition — enhanced with 75 period illustrations and detailed appendices — offers readers the first English translation of the dangers, discoveries and people encountered on his solitary adventure. Groslier’s impressions and insights still fascinate those who, even today, seek answers in the ancient shrines of Cambodia.

ABSTRACT
This article examines two units of measure, of both volume and weight; the use of the former has been proven to date back to the Pre-Angkorean period, and for the latter during the Angkorean pe¬riod. Several interpretations exist regarding the actual measures represented by these two terms.
The first one, thlvaṅ — which is its more common spelling — and which is thought to occur in the copy of a Khmer text whose composition is dated A.D. 1601, under the form tanlūṅ, seemed to no longer exist in Modern Khmer and was consid¬ered to be equivalent to the picul. However, it turns out that the term is probably still in use among the Khmer population of Surin province in Thailand, and, depend¬ing on eras, has represented a weight of paddy ranging roughly from 240 to 264 kgs, or even up to 276 or 288 kgs, for a volume of approximately 480 litres.
The second term, dnāl, has been construed by certain to correspond to a very vague, non-specified unit, corresponding to a large earthenware pot. Other scholars, however, have thought it may have a relationship with an equivalent word still in use in Modern Siamese, and which would be the equiva¬lent of a coconut scoop, i.e. representing an average weight of 600 grams for husked rice. The present article favours the latter interpretation, but the etymology of this term is still problematic, all the more so as a Pāli word, nāḷi, seems to have been in use after the Angkorean period for the same measure.
Keywords : measure, capacity, volume, weight, Cambodia, Pre-Angkorean, Angkorean, Middle Period, Post-Angkorean, Khmer of Surin, standard Khmer, Old Khmer, Modern Khmer, Siamese, Pāli, thlvaṅ, dnāl, daḥnān, nāl, nāli, nāḷ, nāḷi, picul, pound, kaṭṭi, catty.

RÉSUMÉ
La présente contribution se penche sur deux termes de mesure, à la fois de capacité et de poids, attes¬tés pour le premier dès l’époque préangkorienne et pour le deuxième à l’époque angkorienne. Ces deux termes ont fait l’objet de tentatives d’interprétation quant aux valeurs qu’ils représentaient.
Le premier, thlvaṅ — pour ne donner ici que sa forme la plus courante et qu’on pense retrouver dans une copie d’un texte khmer dont la composition est datée de 1601 de notre ère sous la forme tanlūṅ —, semblait inconnu en khmer moderne et a été considéré être l’équivalent du picul. Or, il s’avèrerait qu’il est toujours attesté chez les Khmers de la province de Surin en Thaïlande et a pu selon les époques représenter un poids de paddy allant approximativement de 240 à 264 kg voire même jusqu’à 276 à 288 kg pour un volume d’environ 480 litres.
Le deuxième terme, le dnāl, a également fait l’objet de suppositions de la part de certains au¬teurs qui le font correspondre à la valeur très vague et non précisée d’un ustensile qui serait une grande mar¬mite en terre cuite, tandis que d’autres y voyaient une possible correspondance avec un terme équiva¬lent toujours présent en siamois moderne. Il équivaudrait au volume représenté par une noix de coco évidée et représentait, pour le riz décortiqué, un poids moyen de 600 g. Le présent arti¬cle pen¬che en faveur de cette dernière interprétation, mais l’étymologie de ce terme pose toujours pro¬blème d’autant plus qu’un mot pāli, le nāḷi, semble avoir été utilisé après l’époque angkorienne pour la même mesure.
Mots-clés : mesure, capacité, volume, poids, Cambodge, préangkorien, angkorien, époque moyenne, postangkorien, khmer de Surin, khmer standard, vieux khmer, khmer moderne, siamois, pāli, thlvaṅ, dnāl, daḥnān, nāl, nāli, nāḷ, nāḷi, picul, livre, kaṭṭi, catty.

The Joe Cribb's article "First Coin of Ancient Khmer Kingdom Discovered" published in Numismatique Asiatique Nr 6, 2013, brings up new materials for the history of the Khmer civilisation. Nevertheless the author's analysis, partly based on ancient sources, does not cover certain aspects. A new approach of the archaeological, iconographic and cultural context is the opportunity to discuss some points and to precise some details.

By Alison Carter, Laure Dussubieux, Nancy Beavan. Abstract:

A total of 74 glass beads, included as grave goods in 15th–17th century ce jar burials from Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains, were analysed using laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS). Several glass types were identified, including two subtypes of high-alumina mineral soda glass, and lead–potash glass. The final glass type represents a newly discovered and previously unidentified type of high-alumina soda glass, with high magnesia (m-Na–Al Mg>). This study represents the first glass data from the mid-second millennium ce from Cambodia and sheds light on the multiple long-distance maritime exchange networks in which the upland people buried in the jars were participating.

Although Cambodian epigraphy attests to the presence of ascetics of the Pashupata sect in the Khmer domain, situating them against the backdrop of the Shaivite kingdoms that existed in Southeast Asia from roughly the 6th to the 13th century, it is difficult 
to find iconographic evidence to substantiate their presence.
In order to understand 
the ascetic imagery which occurs in profusion in the period coinciding with the presence of the Pashupata tradition in Cambodia, this paper examines the development of the iconography of Lakulisha (act. 2nd century), acknowledged as the founder of this religious tradition, in the Indic sphere and its probable influence on the iconography of the ascetic figures in Cambodian sculptures and reliefs, with specific attention to the badly eroded image of one such ascetic figure at
the temple complex of Sambor Prei Kuk (N-11, northern group of temples).

The author would like to thank Swati Chemburkar and Olivier Cunin for their generous support and guidance in her hunt for ascetic imagery, as well as Peter Sharrock, Rashmi Poddar, Kirit Mankodi, Umakanta Mishra and the staff at AIIS (Gurugram, India).

'The full article is published in the January/February 2019 issue of Orientations. To purchase a PDF, please contact info@orientations.com.hk'

Publication Date: January/February 2019