Results of the 1995-1996 Archaeological Field Investigations at Angkor Borei, Cambodia

Abstract

One of the earliest states in Southeast Asia arose in the Mekong Delta during or shortly after the first century A.D. Called "Funan" by Chinese travelers, this polity witnessed the emergence of many features of the ancient state: urbanization, political hierarchy, institutionalized religion, economic specialization, and writing. What we know so far about Funan comes primarily from documentary evidence, and largely from Chinese accounts. No archaeological research has been conducted on this state in Cambodia's Mekong Delta in several decades, and it is precisely this region that reputedly housed the capitals of Funan. Research concentrated on developments in southern Cambodia and on the Funan polity that is generally believed to have flourished from the first to sixth centuries A.D. A variety of data sources are now available to us-Chinese historical accounts, inscriptions, local oral traditions, and archaeological materials-that suggest the early Southeast Asian city was a unique mixture of ritual, economic, and political activity. This report focuses on a period that began in the early first millennium B.C. and ended shortly before the inception of Angkor (ninth century A.D.). We discuss results of the 1995 and 1996 field excavations and mapping/survey project, and describe future directions for the Lower Mekong Archaeological Project (LOMAP). KEYWORDS: Southeast Asia, Cambodia, early historic period, Funan, Angkor Borei, social complexity.