Videos by Alison K Carter
How many people lived at Angkor? In this video I explain in Khmer (with English subtitles) a new ... more How many people lived at Angkor? In this video I explain in Khmer (with English subtitles) a new research paper in Science Advances that tries to answer this question. 31 views
Angkor by Alison K Carter
Asia’s Heritage Trend: Examining Asia’s Present Through its Past, 2023
co-authored with Miriam Stark
Introduction
The UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor is located ... more co-authored with Miriam Stark
Introduction
The UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor is located in northwest Cambodia on the edge of the Tonle Sap Lake floodplain. The Angkor Civilization, some- times also called the Khmer civilization or Khmer Empire after the major ethnolinguistic group, was the dominant political force in mainland Southeast Asia from the ninth to fifteenth centuries CE. An eleventh-century inscription describes the establishment of the Angkor kingdom by Jayavarman II in 802 CE (Coedès and Dupont, 1943). Over six centuries, the capital expanded and grew into a massive agro-urban centre that at its height in the twelfth to thir- teenth centuries CE may have had a population of 700,000–900,000 people (Carter et al., 2021, Klassen et al., 2021).
Angkor has been the focus of Western academic research since the 19th century, when French and Khmer scholars worked to restore temples, build an art historical chronology, and translate the Khmer and Sanskrit inscriptions located on stele and temple doorways (École française d’Extrême-Orient, 2010, Clémentin-Ojha and Manguin, 2007). This scholarship was foundational to understanding the history of Angkor’s rulers and the development of the Angkor Empire. At the same time, these French colonial interpretations of Angkor actively shaped perceptions of Cambodian arts and heritage that per- sist today (Burgess, 2021, Edwards, 2007, Muan, 2001). There is still much to be learned about the rest of Angkor’s population; the people who farmed rice in Angkor’s sprawling rice fields, fished the rich Tonle Sap Lake, made Angkor’s ubiquitous stoneware ceramics, built Angkor’s famous stone temples, and worked to keep the temples running. Our chapter reviews historical, art historical, ethnographic, and archaeological data to provide a snapshot of life in Angkor in the city, countryside, and provinces. In doing so, we aim to shed light on the lives of Angkor’s non-elite population.
Archaeological Research in Asia, 2022
The Angkor empire (9-15th centuries CE) was one of mainland Southeast Asia’s major civilizations,... more The Angkor empire (9-15th centuries CE) was one of mainland Southeast Asia’s major civilizations, with a 3000 km2 agro-urban capital located in northwest Cambodia. Since 2010, the Greater Angkor Project has been investigating occupation areas within Angkor’s urban core. This work has identified temple enclosures as important residential areas that made up part of Angkor’s civic-ceremonial center. In this paper, we review excavations from residential areas within Angkor Wat’s temple enclosure. We concentrate on evidence for residential patterning by focusing on our 2015 excavations, one of the largest horizontal excavations of a single occupation mound within Angkor’s civic-ceremonial center. These data offer further evidence for archaeological patterns of residential occupation within the Angkor Wat temple enclosure and a comparative dataset for future research of habitation areas within Angkor as well as domestic spaces in other urban settings.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
The vast agro-urban settlements that developed in the humid tropics of Mesoamerica and Asia conta... more The vast agro-urban settlements that developed in the humid tropics of Mesoamerica and Asia contained both elite civic-ceremonial spaces and sprawling metropolitan areas. Recent studies have suggested that both local autonomy and elite policies facilitated the development of these settlements; however, studies have been limited by a lack of detail in considering how, when, and why these factors contributed to the evolution of these sites. In this paper, we use a fine-grained diachronic analysis of Angkor’s landscape to identify both the state-level policies and infrastructure and bottom-up organization that spurred the growth of Angkor as the world’s most extensive pre-industrial settlement complex. This degree of diachronic detail is unique for the ancient world. We observe that Angkor’s low-density metropolitan area and higher-density civic-ceremonial center grew at different rates and independently of one another. While local historical factors contributed to these developments, we argue that future comparative studies might identify similar patterns.
Science Advances, 2021
Angkor is one of the world’s largest premodern settlement complexes (9th to 15th centuries CE), b... more Angkor is one of the world’s largest premodern settlement complexes (9th to 15th centuries CE), but to date, no comprehensive demographic study has been completed, and key aspects of its population and demographic history remain unknown. Here, we combine lidar, archaeological excavation data, radiocarbon dates, and machine learning algorithms to create maps that model the development of the city and its population growth through time. We conclude that the Greater Angkor Region was home to approximately 700,000 to 900,000 inhabitants at its apogee in the 13th century CE. This granular, diachronic, paleodemographic model of the Angkor complex can be applied to any ancient civilization.
Archaeological Research in Asia, 2020
Free PDF download available until Oct 1, 2020 at this link:
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1bZ8C... more Free PDF download available until Oct 1, 2020 at this link:
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1bZ8C8MrPs63pY
The Angkorian Empire was at its peak from the 10th to 13th centuries CE. It wielded great influence across mainland Southeast Asia and is now one of the most archaeologically visible polities due to its expansive re- ligious building works. This paper presents archaeobotanical evidence from two of the most renowned Angkorian temples largely associated with kings and elites, Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm. But it focuses on the people that dwelt within the temple enclosures, some of whom were involved in the daily functions of the temple. Archaeological work indicates that temple enclosures were areas of habitation within the Angkorian urban core and the temples and their enclosures were ritual, political, social, and economic landscapes. This paper provides the first attempt to reconstruct some aspects of the lives of the non-elites living within the temple enclosures by examining the archaeobotanical evidence, both macroremains and phytoliths, from residential contexts and data derived from inscriptions and Zhou Daguan's historical account dating to the 13th century CE. Research indicates that plants found within the temple enclosure of Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat were grown for ritual or medicinal use, and also formed important components of the diet and household economy.
This link allows for up to 50 free eprint downloads. If it no longer works, please let me know: h... more This link allows for up to 50 free eprint downloads. If it no longer works, please let me know: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/SeEbAUkK5AC7gCfEZTqT/full
The Khmer Empire (9th–15th centuries a.d.), centered on the Greater Angkor region, was the most extensive political entity in the history of mainland Southeast Asia. Stone temples constructed by Angkorian kings and elites were widely assumed to have been loci of ritual as well as habitation, though the latter has been poorly documented archaeologically. In this paper, we present the results of two field seasons of excavation at the temple site of Ta Prohm. Using LiDAR data to focus our excavations, we offer evidence for residential occupation within the temple enclosure from before the 11th century a.d. until the 14th century. A comparison with previous work exploring habitation areas within the Angkor Wat temple enclosure highlights similarities and differences between the two temples. We argue that temple habitation was a key component of the Angkorian urban system and that investigating this unique form of urbanism expands current comparative research on the diversity of ancient cities.
ANGKOR Exploring Cambodia’s Sacred City, 2018
Considerable attention has been devoted to the architecture and art history of Cambodia's Angkor ... more Considerable attention has been devoted to the architecture and art history of Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple in the last century. There has, however, been little research on the functions and internal organisation of the large rectangular enclosure surrounding the temple. Such enclosures have long been assumed to have been sacred precincts, or perhaps ‘temple-cities’: work exploring the archaeological patterning for habitation within them has been limited. The results of LiDAR survey and excavation have now revealed evidence for low-density residential occupation in these areas, possibly for those servicing the temple. Recent excavations within the enclosure challenge our traditional understanding of the social hierarchy of the Angkor Wat community and show that the temple precinct, bounded by moat and wall, may not have been exclusively the preserve of the wealthy or the priestly elite.
PNAS, 2019
The 9th–15th century Angkorian state was Southeast Asia’s greatest premodern empire and Angkor Wa... more The 9th–15th century Angkorian state was Southeast Asia’s greatest premodern empire and Angkor Wat in the World Heritage site of Angkor is one of its largest religious monuments. Here we use excavation and chronometric data from three field seasons at Angkor Wat to understand the decline and reorganization of the Angkorian Empire, which was a more protracted and complex process than historians imagined. Excavation data and Bayesian modeling on a corpus of 16 radiocarbon dates in particular demand a revised chronology for the Angkor Wat landscape. It was initially in use from the 11th century CE with subsequent habitation until the 13th century CE. Following this period, there is a gap in our dates, which we hypothesize signifies a change in the use of the occupation mounds during this period. However, Angkor Wat was never completely abandoned, as the dates suggest that the mounds were in use again in the late 14th–early 15th centuries until the 17th or 18th centuries CE. This break in dates points toward a reorganization of Angkor Wat’s enclosure space, but not during the historically recorded 15th century collapse. Our excavation data are consistent with multiple lines of evidence demonstrating the region’s continued ideological importance and residential use, even after the collapse and shift southward of the polity’s capital. We argue that fine-grained chronological analysis is critical to building local historical sequences and illustrate how such granularity adds nuance to how we interpret the tempo of organizational change before, during, and after the decline of Angkor.
Glass and Stone Beads by Alison K Carter
A talk in Khmer and English for the National Museum in Cambodia in November 2022.
BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers, 2022
This paper reviews stone (agate and carnelian) and glass bead assemblages from three sites in nor... more This paper reviews stone (agate and carnelian) and glass bead assemblages from three sites in northwest Cambodia: Lovea, Prei Khmeng, and Sophy. Beads from all three sites were largely found in burial contexts dating to the Iron Age or protohistoric period (500 BCE-500 CE). While stone and glass beads are frequently markers of contact with South Asia, they are also informative for understanding intra-regional exchange networks within Southeast Asia. An analysis of the glass beads identifies that most beads were made from a high-alumina mineral-soda glass. Compositional and morphological analysis of the stone beads suggests that they were likely produced from an Indian raw material source and using South Asian production techniques. Overall, the bead assemblages from all three sites show connections to other sites in Cambodia and Thailand and especially seem to be part of the broader Mekong Interaction Sphere exchange network.
The Elemental Analysis of Glass Beads: Technology, Chronology and Exchange, 2022
The Elemental Analysis of Glass Beads: Technology, Chronology and Exchange, 2022
Beads are amongst the oldest artifacts associated with modern humans (Bar-Yosef Mayer and Bosch 2... more Beads are amongst the oldest artifacts associated with modern humans (Bar-Yosef Mayer and Bosch 2019). Early shell and eggshell beads found at Middle Stone Age sites in Africa and Middle Paleolithic sites in Israel have been interpreted as examples for symbolic thinking, social signaling, and long-distance transportation of bead materials (Bar-Yosef Mayer et al. 2020; Steele et al. 2019). When glass was developed in the Middle East around 2500 BCE, beads were some of the first objects produced from this new technology (Henderson 2013:8; Moorey 1985). This long-standing and intimate connection between beads and humans makes them ideal objects for addressing a variety of anthropological questions related to their manufacture, trade, use, and meaning. In this chapter, we review a variety of case studies that demonstrate how glass beads in particular have been used to examine trade and economic systems, intercultural interactions and colonialism, social identity, and technological practices.
Asian Perspectives, 2021
Angkor Borei, Cambodia was an important urban center related to the early first millennium C.E. p... more Angkor Borei, Cambodia was an important urban center related to the early first millennium C.E. polity known as Funan. Excavations in the protohistoric period Vat Komnou Cemetery site uncovered over 1300 glass and stone beads, which are important material indicators of trade. In this article, we review data from earlier studies and add new previously unpublished data on glass and stone beads from this collection as well as previously unpublished glass compositional analyses from the nearby site of Oc Eo, Vietnam. Examinations of the glass beads highlight the presence of large quantities of high alumina mineral soda glass associated with Sri Lankan or South Indian bead production as well as smaller quantities of other glass types in circulation throughout Southeast Asia. Compositional and morphological studies of agate/carnelian beads show strong affinities with the Indian bead industry, while the garnet beads came from raw material sources in southern India. Overall, Angkor Borei’s bead collection shows strong contacts with different regions of South Asia. Comparison with the bead assemblages of other contemporaneous sites demonstrate strong affinities with sites farther inland, such as Phum Snay and Prei Khmeng, Cambodia and Ban Non Wat, Thailand rather than other maritime coastal sites in Southeast Asia. We argue that the stone and glass beads at Angkor Borei are related to intensified interaction with South Asia and that elites at Angkor Borei used these exotic prestige goods to build alliances with sites farther inland forming an intraregional exchange network we call the Mekong Interaction Sphere.
by Alison Carter and Nancy Beavan. A variety of glass beads were encountered in jar burials datin... more by Alison Carter and Nancy Beavan. A variety of glass beads were encountered in jar burials dating to the 15-17th centuries found on rock ledges in remote portions of the Cardamom Mountains in southern Cambodia. These burials represent a mortuary ritual in which defleshed bone, often from multiple individuals, were deposited in large ceramic jars predominantly from Thai kilns. Despite the isolated location, the jars and glass beads suggest that the people buried in the jars were active participants in exchange networks. The identification of different compositional types of glass beads can be related to possible trade networks with the lowlands and maritime Southeast Asia. Using ethnographic analogies with other upland communities in Southeast Asia, the authors also propose that the placement of beads in the jar burials may have been an important part of the mortuary ritual of the Cardamom Mountain people.
In Thai. English Abstract:
Promtin Tai is an Iron Age and Early Historic period site located ... more In Thai. English Abstract:
Promtin Tai is an Iron Age and Early Historic period site located in Lopburi province Thailand. Recent excavations by Dr. Thanik Lertcharnrit and Silpakorn University have uncovered Iron Age burials with ceramics, bronze and iron artifacts, and stone and glass beads. Almost 1000 glass beads and artifacts were found during the 2007 field season and twenty-three glass beads were selected for additional compositional analysis using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Most of the beads were small annular or globular monochromatic glass beads commonly described as Indo-Pacific beads. Results indicate that many of the glass beads found in burials were made from potash glass and mineral soda glass with variable amounts of alumina and lime. A smaller quantity of beads were made from high-alumina soda glass. In addition to Indo-Pacific beads, there were also more unusual bead types including glass beads that were made to imitate agate or onyx stone beads, gold-glass beads, and faience beads. The glass bead evidence from Promtin Tai highlights its importance as a transitional site from the late prehistoric into the Early Historic period. The diversity of glass beads and glass types found at the site underscore its connectedness to multiple trade networks.
The stone beads at Promtin Tai are made from a variety of materials including agate, carnelian, as well as greenstone beads that may have been made from nephrite. The greenstone beads come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including bead shapes that we do not find in agate or carnelian. The origin of the nephrite beads is still unknown, however there are similar beads at other sites in Central Thailand. The origin of the agate and carnelian beads has also been the source of much speculation. Some of the agate and carenlian beads at Promtin Tai look similar in style and manufacturing method, specifically the drilling technique, to those found during the same time period in South Asia. However other scholars have wondered if some of these beads were made in Southeast Asia (e.g. Theunissen et al. 2000). Investigation of this question is ongoing, using LA-ICP-MS to analyze both stone beads and geological sources from across South and Southeast Asia. Preliminary results show that most of the beads from Promtin Tai are compositionally consistent with the Indian agate sources. This strongly indicates that the beads were being imported from South Asia, and not being made in Thailand. However there are a few beads that do appear to be compositionally distinct from the Indian sources. The meaning of these distinct beads is still unclear, however future research should help determine if some stone beads were being manufactured in Southeast Asia.
Beads made of glass and stone found at Iron Age period sites (500 BC – AD 500) in Southeast Asia ... more Beads made of glass and stone found at Iron Age period sites (500 BC – AD 500) in Southeast Asia are amongst the first signs for sustained trade and sociopolitical contact with South Asia. Because of this, they have become important artifacts for scholars wishing to better understand trade networks and sociopolitical development during this period. Using compositional analysis scholars can identify the recipes used to make these glass beads and in some cases this can be tied back to specific places or time periods. Current research indicates there were multiple glass bead production centers across South and Southeast Asia during this period. However there has not yet been a comprehensive examination of glass beads from Iron Age sites in Cambodia. This paper aims to fill this gap by presenting the results from a compositional analysis of glass beads from six Iron Age sites in Cambodia. Using a virtually non-destructive compositional technique (LA-ICP-MS), I was able to determine the presence of at least two glass bead-trading networks in Cambodia during the Iron Age.
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Videos by Alison K Carter
Angkor by Alison K Carter
Introduction
The UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor is located in northwest Cambodia on the edge of the Tonle Sap Lake floodplain. The Angkor Civilization, some- times also called the Khmer civilization or Khmer Empire after the major ethnolinguistic group, was the dominant political force in mainland Southeast Asia from the ninth to fifteenth centuries CE. An eleventh-century inscription describes the establishment of the Angkor kingdom by Jayavarman II in 802 CE (Coedès and Dupont, 1943). Over six centuries, the capital expanded and grew into a massive agro-urban centre that at its height in the twelfth to thir- teenth centuries CE may have had a population of 700,000–900,000 people (Carter et al., 2021, Klassen et al., 2021).
Angkor has been the focus of Western academic research since the 19th century, when French and Khmer scholars worked to restore temples, build an art historical chronology, and translate the Khmer and Sanskrit inscriptions located on stele and temple doorways (École française d’Extrême-Orient, 2010, Clémentin-Ojha and Manguin, 2007). This scholarship was foundational to understanding the history of Angkor’s rulers and the development of the Angkor Empire. At the same time, these French colonial interpretations of Angkor actively shaped perceptions of Cambodian arts and heritage that per- sist today (Burgess, 2021, Edwards, 2007, Muan, 2001). There is still much to be learned about the rest of Angkor’s population; the people who farmed rice in Angkor’s sprawling rice fields, fished the rich Tonle Sap Lake, made Angkor’s ubiquitous stoneware ceramics, built Angkor’s famous stone temples, and worked to keep the temples running. Our chapter reviews historical, art historical, ethnographic, and archaeological data to provide a snapshot of life in Angkor in the city, countryside, and provinces. In doing so, we aim to shed light on the lives of Angkor’s non-elite population.
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1bZ8C8MrPs63pY
The Angkorian Empire was at its peak from the 10th to 13th centuries CE. It wielded great influence across mainland Southeast Asia and is now one of the most archaeologically visible polities due to its expansive re- ligious building works. This paper presents archaeobotanical evidence from two of the most renowned Angkorian temples largely associated with kings and elites, Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm. But it focuses on the people that dwelt within the temple enclosures, some of whom were involved in the daily functions of the temple. Archaeological work indicates that temple enclosures were areas of habitation within the Angkorian urban core and the temples and their enclosures were ritual, political, social, and economic landscapes. This paper provides the first attempt to reconstruct some aspects of the lives of the non-elites living within the temple enclosures by examining the archaeobotanical evidence, both macroremains and phytoliths, from residential contexts and data derived from inscriptions and Zhou Daguan's historical account dating to the 13th century CE. Research indicates that plants found within the temple enclosure of Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat were grown for ritual or medicinal use, and also formed important components of the diet and household economy.
The Khmer Empire (9th–15th centuries a.d.), centered on the Greater Angkor region, was the most extensive political entity in the history of mainland Southeast Asia. Stone temples constructed by Angkorian kings and elites were widely assumed to have been loci of ritual as well as habitation, though the latter has been poorly documented archaeologically. In this paper, we present the results of two field seasons of excavation at the temple site of Ta Prohm. Using LiDAR data to focus our excavations, we offer evidence for residential occupation within the temple enclosure from before the 11th century a.d. until the 14th century. A comparison with previous work exploring habitation areas within the Angkor Wat temple enclosure highlights similarities and differences between the two temples. We argue that temple habitation was a key component of the Angkorian urban system and that investigating this unique form of urbanism expands current comparative research on the diversity of ancient cities.
Glass and Stone Beads by Alison K Carter
Promtin Tai is an Iron Age and Early Historic period site located in Lopburi province Thailand. Recent excavations by Dr. Thanik Lertcharnrit and Silpakorn University have uncovered Iron Age burials with ceramics, bronze and iron artifacts, and stone and glass beads. Almost 1000 glass beads and artifacts were found during the 2007 field season and twenty-three glass beads were selected for additional compositional analysis using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Most of the beads were small annular or globular monochromatic glass beads commonly described as Indo-Pacific beads. Results indicate that many of the glass beads found in burials were made from potash glass and mineral soda glass with variable amounts of alumina and lime. A smaller quantity of beads were made from high-alumina soda glass. In addition to Indo-Pacific beads, there were also more unusual bead types including glass beads that were made to imitate agate or onyx stone beads, gold-glass beads, and faience beads. The glass bead evidence from Promtin Tai highlights its importance as a transitional site from the late prehistoric into the Early Historic period. The diversity of glass beads and glass types found at the site underscore its connectedness to multiple trade networks.
The stone beads at Promtin Tai are made from a variety of materials including agate, carnelian, as well as greenstone beads that may have been made from nephrite. The greenstone beads come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including bead shapes that we do not find in agate or carnelian. The origin of the nephrite beads is still unknown, however there are similar beads at other sites in Central Thailand. The origin of the agate and carnelian beads has also been the source of much speculation. Some of the agate and carenlian beads at Promtin Tai look similar in style and manufacturing method, specifically the drilling technique, to those found during the same time period in South Asia. However other scholars have wondered if some of these beads were made in Southeast Asia (e.g. Theunissen et al. 2000). Investigation of this question is ongoing, using LA-ICP-MS to analyze both stone beads and geological sources from across South and Southeast Asia. Preliminary results show that most of the beads from Promtin Tai are compositionally consistent with the Indian agate sources. This strongly indicates that the beads were being imported from South Asia, and not being made in Thailand. However there are a few beads that do appear to be compositionally distinct from the Indian sources. The meaning of these distinct beads is still unclear, however future research should help determine if some stone beads were being manufactured in Southeast Asia.
Introduction
The UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor is located in northwest Cambodia on the edge of the Tonle Sap Lake floodplain. The Angkor Civilization, some- times also called the Khmer civilization or Khmer Empire after the major ethnolinguistic group, was the dominant political force in mainland Southeast Asia from the ninth to fifteenth centuries CE. An eleventh-century inscription describes the establishment of the Angkor kingdom by Jayavarman II in 802 CE (Coedès and Dupont, 1943). Over six centuries, the capital expanded and grew into a massive agro-urban centre that at its height in the twelfth to thir- teenth centuries CE may have had a population of 700,000–900,000 people (Carter et al., 2021, Klassen et al., 2021).
Angkor has been the focus of Western academic research since the 19th century, when French and Khmer scholars worked to restore temples, build an art historical chronology, and translate the Khmer and Sanskrit inscriptions located on stele and temple doorways (École française d’Extrême-Orient, 2010, Clémentin-Ojha and Manguin, 2007). This scholarship was foundational to understanding the history of Angkor’s rulers and the development of the Angkor Empire. At the same time, these French colonial interpretations of Angkor actively shaped perceptions of Cambodian arts and heritage that per- sist today (Burgess, 2021, Edwards, 2007, Muan, 2001). There is still much to be learned about the rest of Angkor’s population; the people who farmed rice in Angkor’s sprawling rice fields, fished the rich Tonle Sap Lake, made Angkor’s ubiquitous stoneware ceramics, built Angkor’s famous stone temples, and worked to keep the temples running. Our chapter reviews historical, art historical, ethnographic, and archaeological data to provide a snapshot of life in Angkor in the city, countryside, and provinces. In doing so, we aim to shed light on the lives of Angkor’s non-elite population.
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1bZ8C8MrPs63pY
The Angkorian Empire was at its peak from the 10th to 13th centuries CE. It wielded great influence across mainland Southeast Asia and is now one of the most archaeologically visible polities due to its expansive re- ligious building works. This paper presents archaeobotanical evidence from two of the most renowned Angkorian temples largely associated with kings and elites, Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm. But it focuses on the people that dwelt within the temple enclosures, some of whom were involved in the daily functions of the temple. Archaeological work indicates that temple enclosures were areas of habitation within the Angkorian urban core and the temples and their enclosures were ritual, political, social, and economic landscapes. This paper provides the first attempt to reconstruct some aspects of the lives of the non-elites living within the temple enclosures by examining the archaeobotanical evidence, both macroremains and phytoliths, from residential contexts and data derived from inscriptions and Zhou Daguan's historical account dating to the 13th century CE. Research indicates that plants found within the temple enclosure of Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat were grown for ritual or medicinal use, and also formed important components of the diet and household economy.
The Khmer Empire (9th–15th centuries a.d.), centered on the Greater Angkor region, was the most extensive political entity in the history of mainland Southeast Asia. Stone temples constructed by Angkorian kings and elites were widely assumed to have been loci of ritual as well as habitation, though the latter has been poorly documented archaeologically. In this paper, we present the results of two field seasons of excavation at the temple site of Ta Prohm. Using LiDAR data to focus our excavations, we offer evidence for residential occupation within the temple enclosure from before the 11th century a.d. until the 14th century. A comparison with previous work exploring habitation areas within the Angkor Wat temple enclosure highlights similarities and differences between the two temples. We argue that temple habitation was a key component of the Angkorian urban system and that investigating this unique form of urbanism expands current comparative research on the diversity of ancient cities.
Promtin Tai is an Iron Age and Early Historic period site located in Lopburi province Thailand. Recent excavations by Dr. Thanik Lertcharnrit and Silpakorn University have uncovered Iron Age burials with ceramics, bronze and iron artifacts, and stone and glass beads. Almost 1000 glass beads and artifacts were found during the 2007 field season and twenty-three glass beads were selected for additional compositional analysis using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Most of the beads were small annular or globular monochromatic glass beads commonly described as Indo-Pacific beads. Results indicate that many of the glass beads found in burials were made from potash glass and mineral soda glass with variable amounts of alumina and lime. A smaller quantity of beads were made from high-alumina soda glass. In addition to Indo-Pacific beads, there were also more unusual bead types including glass beads that were made to imitate agate or onyx stone beads, gold-glass beads, and faience beads. The glass bead evidence from Promtin Tai highlights its importance as a transitional site from the late prehistoric into the Early Historic period. The diversity of glass beads and glass types found at the site underscore its connectedness to multiple trade networks.
The stone beads at Promtin Tai are made from a variety of materials including agate, carnelian, as well as greenstone beads that may have been made from nephrite. The greenstone beads come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including bead shapes that we do not find in agate or carnelian. The origin of the nephrite beads is still unknown, however there are similar beads at other sites in Central Thailand. The origin of the agate and carnelian beads has also been the source of much speculation. Some of the agate and carenlian beads at Promtin Tai look similar in style and manufacturing method, specifically the drilling technique, to those found during the same time period in South Asia. However other scholars have wondered if some of these beads were made in Southeast Asia (e.g. Theunissen et al. 2000). Investigation of this question is ongoing, using LA-ICP-MS to analyze both stone beads and geological sources from across South and Southeast Asia. Preliminary results show that most of the beads from Promtin Tai are compositionally consistent with the Indian agate sources. This strongly indicates that the beads were being imported from South Asia, and not being made in Thailand. However there are a few beads that do appear to be compositionally distinct from the Indian sources. The meaning of these distinct beads is still unclear, however future research should help determine if some stone beads were being manufactured in Southeast Asia.
A variety of glass beads were encountered in jar burials dating to the 15th-17th centuries found on rock ledges in remote portions of the Cardamom Mountains in southern Cambodia. These burials represent a mortuary ritual in which defieshed bones, often from multiple individuals, were deposited in large ceramic jars predominantly from Thai kilns. Despite the isolated location, the jars and glass beads suggest that the people buried in the jars were active participants in exchange networks. The identification of different compositional types of glass beads can be related to possible trade networks with the lowlands and maritime Southeast Asia. Using ethnographic analogies with other upland communities in Southeast Asia, the authors also propose that the placement of beads in the jar burials may have been an important part of the mortuary ritual of the Cardamom Mountain people.
Agate and carnelian beads, imported from South Asia, were widely exchanged in Southeast Asia during the Iron Age period (500 BCE–500 CE). Recent studies have identified changes in bead types and manufacturing methods over time, as well as evidence for possible local production. In order to understand the broader implications of these developments, geochemical analysis using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was undertaken on 73 beads from 10 Iron Age sites in Cambodia and Thailand and 64 geologic samples from four sites in India, Iran, and Thailand. The results show that many of the beads were produced from raw material derived from the Deccan Traps, India and that there is not yet strong evidence for bead production using a Southeast Asian source. Secondly, we find that there is not yet clear evidence for a change in the different geologic sources used to produce beads over time. This study adds to the growing body of literature highlighting the utility of LA-ICP-MS in differentiating and assigning provenience to agate/carnelian and other silicates.
In this introduction we offer a brief background on Peter Francis, Jr., Asia's Maritime Bead Trade, and our motivation for putting together this special issue. We summarize the papers in the issue and conclude by proposing future directions for continued research on beads in Asia.
http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1T4U48MrPrspCp
Stone and glass beads are important artifacts in Southeast Asia as they are amongst the earliest objects from South Asia found in the region, and frequently seen as symbols of Indian influence and increasing socio-political complexity. Peter Francis Jr.'s writings regarding the production and exchange of beads in Southeast Asia have been influential to archaeologists who have viewed beads as prestige objects that were traded widely and produced at important urban centers in Southeast Asia. However, the field of beads studies in Southeast Asia has greatly expanded in the past 15 years and benefitted from new excavations and scientific techniques. In this article, I review Peter Francis' hypotheses regarding the production and exchange of beads in Southeast Asia from 500 BCE to the early second millennium CE. I then synthesize recent work by scholars that has transformed our understanding of the manufacture and trade of beads. I argue that this work has largely disproven Francis' model of bead production and interaction between South and Southeast Asia. Instead, there appear to have been multiple phases of bead production and exchange between the two regions, which reflect complex interaction networks between South and Southeast Asia and within Southeast Asia.