Angkorian Collapse and Aftermath: A View from the Center

Summary

The 9th – 15th century Angkorian state was Southeast Asia’s largest ancient polity; its 1000 km2 core was among the world’s largest preindustrial urban centers. The Angkorian state’s mid-15th century CE “collapse” moved the polity’s rulers and their populations south to a series of new capitals that were closely linked to the Early Modern Southeast Asian economy. Angkor as a capital collapsed, but the Angkorian civilization continued. We use field excavations, surface survey, and remote sensing research through the Greater Angkor Project to examine the archaeology of collapse at Angkor, and to offer local perspectives on state collapse for comparative research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• "Let's Talk about [Collapse], Baby": Explorations in the Archaeology of Societal Collapse

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Spatial Coverage