Alison Carter

Residential patterning at Angkor Wat

Considerable attention has been devoted to the architecture and art history of Cambodias Angkor Wat temple in the last century. There has, however, been little research on the functions and internal organisation of the large rectangular enclosure surrounding the temple. Such enclosures have long been assumed to have been sacred precincts, or perhaps ‘temple-cities’: work exploring the archaeological patterning for habitation within them has been limited. The results of LiDAR survey and excavation have now revealed evidence for low-density residential occupation in these areas, possibly for those servicing the temple. Recent excavations within the enclosure challenge our traditional understanding of the social hierarchy of the Angkor Wat community and show that the temple precinct, bounded by moat and wall, may not have been exclusively the preserve of the wealthy or the priestly elite.

Determining the Provenience of Garnet Beads Using LA-ICP-MS

Stone and glass beads have been found at Iron Age (500 bc–ad 500) sites across Southeast Asia and are often assumed to be indicators of contact with South Asia. However, recent research on glass, agate, and carnelian beads indicates there may have also been local production of these materials. In Cambodia, two different types of garnet beads have been identified at several Iron Age sites. The first type is spherical, well-polished, and appears to have been drilled with a diamond drill, a drilling technique that is strongly associated with Indian bead production. The second type of garnet bead is unpolished, unshaped, and drilled using a variety of different drilling methods. Based on these initial differences, it was hypothesized that there were two different bead-making traditions represented amongst the garnet beads, and that the second type of garnet bead may have been locally produced. To investigate this question more thoroughly the garnet beads were analyzed using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) in order to determine their chemical composition. Geological source samples from a variety of garnet sources across South and Southeast Asia were also analyzed using LA-ICP-MS. Results indicate that LA-ICP-MS is an excellent tool for differentiating between garnet sources and analyzing archaeological garnet artifacts with minimal damage. Furthermore, the results of the study confirm that the two types of beads were made from distinctly different garnet sources, although the locations of these sources remain unknown.

Glass artifacts at Angkor: evidence for exchange

Although glass beads were found in large quantities in Southeast Asia during the Iron Age and into the first millennium CE, glass artifacts from the Angkorian period (ninth–fifteenth centuries CE) are less common and have not been as well-studied. This paper presents the results of an analysis of 81 glass beads and artifacts from the ninth-century royal capital of Hariharālaya and later (twelfth–fourteenth centuries CE) contexts from the walled city of Angkor Thom. Compositional analyses using laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) have identified glass belonging to three broad compositional groups. The earlier Hariharālaya sites have numerous glass beads and vessel fragments made from vegetal soda glass, associated with Middle Eastern production, as well as high-alumina mineral soda glass of a sub-type frequently found at Iron Age sites in Southeast Asia and likely produced in South Asia. Beads from the later-period sites within Angkor Thom are primarily lead glass, associated with Chinese glass production, and different sub-types of high-alumina mineral soda glass that have also been found at sites in Southeast Asia dating from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries CE. A small number of beads from Angkor Thom also have a vegetal soda composition distinct from beads at Hariharālaya. The results of this study provide a new type of evidence for elite participation in broader regional exchange networks during the Angkorian period.