Les racines d'Angkor
by Michel Tranet
The proto-historic Khmer culture reflected through the Phum Snay excavations
Type: paperback
Publisher: Khemaravidya.com
Edition: #77 at Angkor Database Library.
Author: Michel Tranet
Pages: 262
Language : French
Main archeological site dating from the Iron Age in modern Cambodia, Phum Snay (ភូមិ ស្នាយ) burial site was accidentally discover in 2000 during roadwork on National 6 Road, about 80 km northwest of Angkor.
Michel Tranet, reseacher and former Culture vice-minister, summarizes in this book a fascinating insight on the local cultures that thrived in the area more than seven centuries before the Angkorian civilization arose.
Potteries, ceramic ware, agriculture tools, arms and even bronze drums (the latter ones showing probable interaction with artisans of early China) talk to us about a long-gone way of life which can be still partly found among the Phnong families and villages, high on the Cambodian plateaus.
For strictly anthropological findings from the Phum Snay excavations, see the communication published in Anthropogical Science (Vol 119(1), 2011) here.
Tags: Phum Snay, Pre-Angkorian, ceramics, funerary rites
About the Author
Michel Tranet
Author of more than twenty books on archaeology and Angkorian research, Professor Michel Tranet (បណ្ឌិត មីសែល ត្រាណេ, 1955- ) served as a secretary of state at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in the 1990s, ultimately resigning to protest the lack of involvement of Cambodian authorities in fighting art pieces trafficking and illegal excavations.
At the start of the 21st century, he projected to create a private Museum of Ancient Khmer (and ethnic minorities) Art, gathering some 400 artworks and donating several of them to the National Museum of Cambodia.
In Phnom Penh, 2021