Sponsored by: Archaeological Institute of America
The Angkor civilization was the major regional power in Southeast Asia from the 9-15th centuries CE. However, despite more than a century of archaeological research within Angkor’s capital, little is known about the lives of non-elites. This presentation discusses recent research on Angkor’s population at two scales. First, I present recent work by the Greater Angkor Project that has focused on understanding Angkor’s residential occupation through the investigation of habitation mounds within Angkor’s temple enclosures. Then, I present new collaborative research on the diachronic demographic growth of Greater Angkor, including updated population estimates, which highlight Angkor’s place as one of the world’s largest preindustrial settlements.
Short bibliography and/or website on lecture topic (for lay reader):
https://theconversation.com/a-metropolis-arose-in-medieval-cambodia-new-research-shows-how-many-people-lived-in-the-angkor-empire-over-time-157573
https://www.academia.edu/38733206/The_Angkorian_city_From_Hariharalaya_to_Yashodharapura
Matson Lecture
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