The Origins of the Civilization of Angkor

This essay makes for an essential, yet sometimes arduous read about the origins of the Angkorian civilization. Encompassing some fifty millenia, the author’s research leads us through eight phases of human settlement in the area covering what is now Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Supported by archeological findings, the essay presents some striking evidence of prehistorical activity tracing back the pre-Angkorian and Angkorian sites to the dawn of modern humankind, such as:

• “Our excavations at Angkor have revealed Iron Age occupation only one hundred metres from the southern gate into Angkor Thom. At Phum Snay, about eighty-five kilometres northwest of Angkor, an Iron Age cemetery containing rich burials have been discovred. This site has been virtually destroyed by looting later on, but villagers have reported finding skulls wearing horned.”
• “At Phimai, we have found Iron Age occupation below the remains of an early brick temple. Brick temples of the Chenla period have also been found in the upper Mun Angkorian sites of Phanom Wan and Phanom Rung. At the former, the Angkorian sanctuary was built over an Iron Age cemetery in which the dead were interred on the same orientation as the central temple.”