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From the Iron Age to Angkor: new light on the origins of a state

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2014

Charles Higham
Charles Higham*
Affiliation:
*Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand (Email: charles.higham@otago.ac.nz)
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Abstract

Excavations at four Iron Age moated sites in the Mun Valley in Thailand have identified seminal innovations, defined as emergent properties, that illuminate the origins of the kingdom of Angkor. Combined with recent research at Angkor itself, they present a compelling case for re-examining fundamental cultural changes that took place over a period of little more than four centuries, from AD 400–800. They compare with similarly rapid developments in Mesoamerica and Mesopotamia; fundamental parallels are evident in the role of charismatic agents for change, an ideology conferring god-like status on leaders, a new and highly productive economic base, an expanded interaction sphere for the exchange of prestige goods, and endemic warfare.

Keywords

AngkorIron Agekingshipsocial changericeploughreservoirsstate origins
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 88 , Issue 341 , September 2014 , pp. 822 - 835
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2014

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