Keo Kinal

Keo Kinal កែវ គីណាល់ (10 Dec. 1973, Siem Reap — 13 Nov. 2011, Stung) was a Cambodian archaeologist and cultural heritage specialist who died prematurely before he could further his research on the Sambor Prei Kuk site and on comparative archaeology in the Mediterranean area. 

The son of eminent archaeologist Keo Pich, who was entrusted the direction of Angkor Conservation by Bernard-Philippe Groslier in 1973, survived the Khmer Rouge régime and became the first Cambodian Angkor Conservator in 1979, Kinal came to archaeology by chance, as he initially wanted to become a physician or an economist. 

A student at the Faculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) between 1991 and 1996, he studied at the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Nara, Japan, and returned to Japan in 2003 for a MD at Tokyo National University of the Arts.

A young professor at RUFA, he pursued his field research in Cambodia after exploring archaeological sites in Italy thanks to a UNESCO exchange program, upon recommendation from mentors Danielle Guéret and Ashley Thompson.