"The Civilization of Angkor is remarkable and unique in that it delves into the prehistoric roots of the civilization. Higham is THE international authority on southeast Asian archaeology, and presents an up-to-date and provocative synthesis of Angkor."--Brian Fagan, author of Floods, Famines, and Emperors: El Nino and the Fate of Civilizations, and co-editor of The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. "In blending archaeological and documentary data to chronicle the rise of this important Southeast Asian state, Higham's rich history of Angkor effectively refutes traditional models of state development in the Mekong region and offers insights regarding the nature of Angkor and the processes that led to its emergence."--Miriam Stark, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawai'i and editor of The Archaeology of Social Boundaries
A panoramic tour of Cambodian history traces its rediscovery in the mid-nineteenth century and what the latest findings have revealed about Khmer civilization, documenting such periods as the five-century part-Hindu, part-Buddhist empire, the gradual abandonment of Angkor, and the move of the capital downriver to the Phnom Penh area. Reprint.
The Origins of the Civilization of Angkor reflects the results of a research programme conducted by Charles Higham over the last twenty years, highlighting much entirely new, and occasionally surprising, information and providing a distinct perspective on cultural change over two millennia. The book covers the background of environmental change, the adoption of rice farming, archaeogenetics, the adoption of copper-based metallurgy, the iron age and the origins of state formation.
Since Cambodia's reopening to the world in the past dozen years, following its genocidal civil war, there has been a burgeoning interest in its history, art and architectural relics. In parallel with this growing popular interest has been a renewal of international scholarly work and corresponding publication on the Khmers. However, virtually without exception, these either have been aimed at the casual tourist, or alternately, have consisted of more or less esoteric monographs, highly focused on specific aspects of Khmer culture. A comprehensive survey of the Khmers, broad enough in its scope to provide an overall view, both temporal and geographic, of Khmer civilization, while sufficiently in-depth to satisfy the serious reader, has not been attempted in any language in the past half century, until now. In "Angkor: Before and After," Professor David Snellgrove has provided a new cultural history of the Khmers covering the period from its very beginning in the 5th century right up to the present day, and dealing not only with Angkor, but with the whole range of Khmer achievements throughout the South East Asian mainland. Professor Snellgrove further enhances this history with new translations of several of the most significant surviving Khmer stone inscriptions, in Sanskrit and ancient Khmer, thus providing the reader with direct views into Khmer civilization. Deeply acquainted with Brahmanical and Buddhist religious traditions, Professor Snellgrove also provides unique new insights into the complex interplay of the two at times competing traditions and the impact of this interplay on Khmer culture and architecture of the period. He further clarifies the religious evolution thatresulted in the eventual replacement of Brahmanical as well as earlier Khmer Mahayana Buddhist practices by the Theravada tradition that eventually predominates in Cambodia today. With detailed descriptions, complemented by rich illustration, of many Khmer sites, including both well known and many rarely visited or previously described, this book is essential reading for all who wish to further their understanding of this fascinating and highly developed medieval civilization.
Water Civilization: From Yangtze to Khmer Civilizations comprises three major topics: 1) Discovery of the origin of rice agriculture and the Yangtze River civilization in southern China was mainly based on investigation of the Chengtoushan archaeological site, the earliest urban settlement in East Asia. The origin of rice cultivation can be traced back to 10000 BC, with urban settlement starting at about 6000 BP; 2) The Yangtze River civilization collapsed around 4200 BP. Palaeoenvironmental studies including analyses of annually laminated sediments in East and Southeast Asia indicate a close relationship between climate change and the rise and fall of the rice-cultivating and fishing civilization; and 3) Migrations from southern China to Southeast Asia occurred after about 4200 BP. Archaeological investigation of the Phum Snay site in Cambodia, including analyses of DNA and human skeletal remains, reveals a close relationship to southern China, indicating the migration of people from southern China to Southeast Asia. This publication is an important contribution to understanding the environmental history of China and Cambodia in relation to the rise and fall of the rice-cultivating and fishing civilization, which we call water civilization.
In this lively survey, Guy D. Middleton critically examines our ideas about collapse - how we explain it and how we have constructed potentially misleading myths around collapses - showing how and why collapse of societies was a much more complex phenomenon than is often admitted.
"Angkor, the temple and palace complex of the ancient Khmer capital in Cambodiais one of the world's most famous monuments. Hundreds of thousands oftourists from all over the globe visit Angkor Park, one of the finest UNESCO WorldHeritage Sites, every year. Since its UNESCO listing in 1992, the Angkor regionhas experienced an overwhelming mushrooming of hotels and restaurants; theinfrastructure has been hardly able to cope with the rapid growth of mass tourismand its needs. This applies to the access and use of monument sites as well. The authors of this book critically describe and analyse the heritage nominationprocesses in Cambodia, especially in the case of Angkor and the temple ofPreah Vihear on the Cambodian/Thai border. They examine the implications theUNESCO listings have had with regard to the management of Angkor Park andits inhabitants on the one hand, and to the Cambodian/Thai relationships on theother. Furthermore, they address issues of development through tourism thatUNESCO has recognised as a welcome side-effect of heritage listings. They raisethe question whether development through tourism deepens already existinginequalities rather than contributing to the promotion of the poor"--Publisher's description.
Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR and Science Friday A quest to explore some of the most spectacular ancient cities in human history—and figure out why people abandoned them. In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy’s southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today. Newitz travels to all four sites and investigates the cutting-edge research in archaeology, revealing the mix of environmental changes and political turmoil that doomed these ancient settlements. Tracing the early development of urban planning, Newitz also introduces us to the often anonymous workers—slaves, women, immigrants, and manual laborers—who built these cities and created monuments that lasted millennia. Four Lost Cities is a journey into the forgotten past, but, foreseeing a future in which the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities, it may also reveal something of our own fate.
