The evolution of agro-urbanism: A case study from Angkor, Cambodia
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Date
2021-09
Authors
Carter, Alison Kyra
Klassen, Sarah
Stark, Miriam T.
Polkinghorne, Martin
Heng, Piphal
Evans, Damian
Chhay, Rachna
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
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.
Description
16 pages
Keywords
Urbanism, Agro-urbanism, Demography, Cambodia, Angkor, Southeast Asia
Citation
Carter, A. K., Klassen, S., Stark, M. T., Polkinghorne, M., Heng, P., Evans, D. H., & Chhay, R., (2021). The evolution of agro-urbanism: A case study from Angkor, Cambodia. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 63, 1—16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101323