The Angkor Civilization (or Khmer Civilization) is the name given to an important civilization of southeast Asia, including all of Cambodia and southeastern Thailand and northern Vietnam, with its classic period dated roughly between 800 to 1300 AD. It is also the name of one of the medieval Khmer capital cities, containing some of the most spectacular temples in the world, such as Angkor Wat.
The ancestors of the Angkor civilization are thought to have migrated into Cambodia along the Mekong River during the 3rd millennium BC. Their original center, established by 1000 BC, was located on the shore of large lake called Tonle Sap, but a truly sophisticated (and enormous) irrigation system allowed the spread of the civilization into the countryside away from the lake.
Chronology of Angkor
- Hunter Gatherers ? to ca 3000-3600 BC
- Early Farming 3000-3600 BC to 500 BC (Ban Non Wat, Ban Lum Khao)
- Iron Age 500 BC to AD 200-500
- Early Kingdoms AD 100-200 to AD 802 (Oc Eo, Funan Culture, Sambor Prei Kuk)
- Classic (or Angkorian period) AD 802-1327 (Angkor Wat, Angkor Borei, etc.)
- Post-Classic AD 1327-1863 (establishment of Buddhism)
Angkor (Khmer) Society
The Khmer society was a cosmopolitan blend of Pali and Sanskrit rituals resulting from a combined Hindu and High Buddhist belief system, probably the effects of Cambodia's role in the extensive trade system connecting Rome, India and China during the last few centuries BC.
The Khmer society was led by an extensive court system with both religious and secular nobles, artisans, fishermen and rice farmers, soldiers, and elephant keepers; Angkor was protected by an army using elephants.
The end of Angkor came in the mid-14th century, and was partly brought about by a change in religious belief in the region, from Hinduism and High Buddhism to more democratic Buddhist practices. At the same, an environmental collapse is seen by some scholars as having a role in the disappearance of Angkor.
Angkor, The Hydraulic City
Recent work conducted at Angkor by the Greater Angkor Project (GAP) used advanced radar remote sensing applications to map the city and its environs. The project identified the urban complex of about 200-400 square kilometers, surrounded by a vast agricultural complex of farmlands, local villages, temples and ponds, all connected by a web of earthen-walled canals.
The GAP newly identified at least 74 structures as possible temples. The results of the survey suggest that the city of Angkor, including the temples, agricultural fields, residences (or occupation mounds), and hydraulic network, covered an area of nearly 3000 square kilometers over the length of its occupation, making Angkor the largest low-density pre-industrial city on earth.
Because of the enormous aerial spread of the city, and the clear emphasis on water catchment, storage and redistribution, members of the GAP call Angkor a 'hydraulic city', in that villages within the greater Angkor area were set up with local temples, each surrounded by a shallow moat and traversed by earthen causeways. Large canals connected cities and rice fields, acting both as irrigation and roadway.
Archaeology at Angkor
Archaeologists who have worked at Angkor Wat include Charles Higham, Michael Vickery, Michael Coe and Roland Fletcher; recent work by the GAP is based in part on the mid-20th century mapping work of Bernard-Philippe Groslier of the École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO). The photographer Pierre Paris took great strides with his photos of the region in the 1920s. Due in part to its enormous size, and in part to the political struggles of Cambodia in the latter half of the 19th century, excavation has been limited.
Khmer Archaeological Sites: Oc Eo, Sambor Prei Kuk, Angkor Wat, Ban Non Wat, Ban Lum Khao
Khmer Issues: Funan culture, Pierre Paris, Mapping Angkor
Sources
Coe, Michael D. 2003. Angkor and the Khmer Civilization. Thames and Hudson, London.
Evans, Damian et al. 2007. A new archaeological map of the world's largest preindustrial settlement complex at Angkor, Cambodia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. August 13, 2007.
Higham, Charles. 2001. The Civilization of Angkor. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London.
Penny, Dan et al. 2007. The use of AMS 14C dating to explore issues of occupation and demise at the medieval city of Angkor, Cambodia. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 259:388â€"394.
Uchida, E. et al. 2007. Consideration on the construction process and the sandstone quarries during the Angkor period based on the magnetic susceptibility. Journal of Archaeological Science 34:924-935.
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