Pre-angkorian Settlement Trends in Cambodia’s Mekong Delta and the Lower Mekong Archaeological Project

Polities in the Mekong delta played a central role in regional developments between 500 BC and AD 500. Documentary data suggest the delta reached its political apex during the 3 through 7 centuries. What were the roots of early polities in this region, and what was their organization? Research by the Lower Mekong Archaeological Project seeks to answer these questions through field investigations in southern Cambodia. Excavations at the ancient capital of Angkor Borei suggest a continuous occupation of the area from the 4 century BC onwards; the timing, development and nature of interregional networks are now under study. This presentation describes some results of research at Angkor Borei, and discusses ongoing research on the communication and settlement systems that characterized the northern section of the Mekong delta from 500 BC to AD 500. The Mekong delta played a central role in the development of Cambodia’s earliest complex polities from approximately 500 BC to AD 600. In what is now southern Cambodia and southern Vietnam (Fig. 1), substantial populations established new coastal and inland settlements, constructed religious monuments within their cities and in the surrounding countryside, and participated in the South China Sea economic and social network that linked cultures from China to Rome. Four southern provinces in Cambodia’s Mekong delta (Prei Veng, Svay Rieng, Kandal, and Takeo) contain the delta’s highest density of early historic sites, and most 7-8 century inscriptions (Jacob 1979; Jacques 1979, 1995; Vickery 1998). A wealth of archaeological, epigraphic and art historical data suggests that this region’s centrality continued throughout much of the subsequent preAngkorian period (c. AD 500-802). The Lower Mekong Archaeological Project (hereafter “LOMAP”) was established in 1996 to investigate models of early state formation in southern Cambodia. LOMAP Phase II began in 2003, and primarily involved a regional survey program in Takeo Province. The three-year survey was designed to locate and analyze the distribution of first millennium AD settlements associated with either the “Funan” or the Pre-Angkorian periods. Results of our survey work suggest that earlier historical models based on Chinese accounts of “Funan” underestimate the region’s importance, and that it played critical political and social roles until at least the end of the pre-Angkorian period. Figure 1. Location of Angkor Borei in Takeo Province (Cambodia). Reprinted with permission from the University of Hawaii Press from Figure 1, p. 52 in "A New Date for the Phnom Da Images and Its Implications for Early Cambodia." by N.H. Dowling, Asian Perspectives 38(1):51-61. This paper draws from a decade’s worth of archaeological investigations to discuss pre-Angkorian settlement trends in the LOMAP study area (e.g., Bishop et al. 2003a, 2003b; Bong 2003; Sanderson et al. 2003; Stark 1998, 2003a; Stark and Bong 2001; Stark et al. 1999; Voeun and von den Driesch 2004). This article has INDO-PACIFIC PREHISTORY ASSOCIATION BULL;ETIN 26, 2006 99 four sections. I first present a background to the Lower Mekong Archaeological Project, and discuss key research themes that structure LOMAP research. Findings from LOMAP excavations at and around Angkor Borei are then summarized, and preliminary findings from the LOMAP survey are discussed. This article concludes by expanding its focus beyond the Mekong delta to think more broadly about the Mekong basin. BACKGROUND TO LOMAP AND RESEARCH THEMES The Lower Mekong Archaeological Project is a direct outgrowth of the University of Hawaii/East-West Center/Royal University of Fine Arts Cambodia Project that was initiated in 1994 by Dr Judy Ledgerwood (then of the East-West Center) and Dr P. Bion Griffin (University of Hawai’i) and initially supported by the East-West Center. At the invitation of Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the larger Cambodia project was established to provide a foundation for longterm research and training programs by University of Hawai’i faculty that involve training graduates of the Royal University of Fine Arts (Phnom Penh) in archaeology, art history, cultural anthropology, and historic preservation (Griffin et al. 1996; Griffin et al. 1999). The Lower Mekong Archaeological Project (hereafter called LOMAP) represents a product of this larger Cambodia Project. LOMAP was established in 1996 by co-directors Chuch Phoeurn (then Dean, Archaeology Faculty, Royal University of Fine Arts, Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts) and Miriam Stark (Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii). LOMAP has concentrated most of its archaeological research on the archaeological site of Angkor Borei in Takeo province. Our fieldwork combines archaeological research and training and uses a variety of field techniques, from excavation and survey to geoarchaeological prospecting and coring. Several graduate students from the University of Hawaii (and other American and Australian universities) and more than 30 graduates from the Archaeology Faculty of the Royal University of Fine Arts have participated in LOMAP fieldwork since 1996.