Urbanism and Residential Patterning in Angkor
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Date
2018-09-01
Authors
Heng, Piphal
Stark, Miriam T.
Chhay, Rachna
Evans, Damian
Carter, Alison Kyra
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor and Francis
Abstract
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.
Description
16 pages
Keywords
Angkor, Cambodia, urbanism, LiDAR, community planning
Citation
Carter, A. K., Heng, P., Stark, M., Chhay, R., & Evans, D. (2018). Urbanism and Residential Patterning in Angkor. Journal of Field Archaeology, 43(6), 492—506. https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2018.1503034