We built this city on rock and roads

     For many people when they think about Cambodia they think of Angkor Wat, one of the most famous places in the world today. This temple is a tourist hotspot and has many times been added into more modern lists of "Wonders of the World". What many people don't know is that this amazing temple is one of thousands grouped into the temples of Angkor.

 

www.devata.org 

     Modern technology is showing us that these thousand dots that scatter across the map of Cambodia may not be just random lone temples but it is now being proven that they are part of a vast ancient city that predates Angkor Wat. The temples of Angkor date from between 800-1400AD, this is widely known as the time period of the Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire. An empire whose rich history is still being uncovered today but whose art and architecture are among the most impressive throughout history. A empire that stretched from Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and even into southern China.

 

Personal Photo

     Today a team of archaeologists from University of Sydney, led by Director Damian Evans are using Lidar to discover the roads that linked the temples of Angkor together in a city named Mahendraparvata. A city named from Sanskrit meaning "the mountain of the great Indra". It's size has yet to be determined due to the time and money it takes to do this kind of archaeological surveying. It has taken the team about ten years just to get this far with the uncovering of the city. What they do know is that this city even predates the temples themselves being more than 1200 years old.

     Lidar is a new form of remote sensing that uses aerial imaging to be able to detect inconsistencies in topography, soil coloration and other features. It uses laser technology to reflect and analyze light emissions from great heights. They are almost always on a helicopter mount. The analysis can be fed into GIS systems and items discovered can be uploaded into GPS systems. Other discoveries have been found using Lidar in Canada, the US, and Honduras.

     Lidar can't do all the work though and a lot of leg work on the ground is necessary. Cambodia is predominantly harsh, tropical jungles and the work on the ground is very taxing and time consuming. However, already they have discovered roadways, canals and possibly undiscovered temples. Temple discovery has been helped by the knowledge that the Khmer empire built temples out of stone brick work while all other buildings were more simple wood constructions. The other exciting notion is that of the hidden aspect of these treasured buildings. The jungle overgrowth has protected these sites from the naked eye meaning that most all finds using Lidar technology will be untouched, unlooted finds.

 

Personal Photo

     Damian Evans and his crew are very excited to continue their work and determine how big this ancient city really is, how old it really is, and how many untampered temples they may find. Also it is unclear if all the structures will be contemporaneous with the style of Angkor or if a as yet to be discovered older artistic style might be found as they uncover older roadways and temples.

 

www.visit-angkor.org

References:

English Heritage. 2010. The Light Fantastic: Using Airborne Lidar in Archaeological Survey. David M. Jones, Ed. Swindon, England: English Heritage.

Jessup, Helen Ibbitson. 2010. Chapter 3: South-East Asia: The Khmer 802-1566. In The Great Empires of Asia. Jim Masselos, Ed. Pp. 72-103. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Neuman, Scott. 2013. Archaeologists Discover Lost City in Cambodian Jungle. NPR. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/14/191727408/archaeologists-discover-lost-city-in-cambodian-jungle. Accessed June 18, 2013.

Places to Visit:

Angkor Wat: http://www.visit-angkor.org/

Back in my day...

     So. today I decided to go and dig up some ancient texts from the library to use as a resource. The ancient text I'm referring to is known as an encyclopedia. A long, long time ago (not in a galaxy far away) before computers and the internet were available to dump information on us without much actual research there were these books that were compendiums of knowledge known as encyclopedias. They were the internet before the internet happened.
     Today I pulled out one of my favorite encyclopedias, the Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life, and opened to a random page and so I'm going to give a brief account of Ivoirians.
     Ivoirians (ih-VWAHR-ee-uhns) are the people of the country Côte d'Ivoire. also known as the Ivory Coast, a smaller square shaped country in West Africa. The population there is at 20.6 million today and they speak over 60 different ethnic languages. French is the official language there and the official religions there are Islam and Christianity but there is a lot of local ethnic beliefs that intertwine with them.

www.lib.utexas.edu 

     The country received first contact from the Portuguese and the French established a colony there in 1893. It was named the ivory coast because of the ivory trade that flourished there but by the end of the 19th century the country was almost completely devoid of its elephant population.

commons.wikimedia.org

     The over 60 languages all belong to the Niger-Congo family and interestingly no one language (except French) is spoken by more than 23% of the country. Meaning French is the best means of communication between different groups in the country. Some of the more popular languages include: Akan, Mande', Gur (Voltaic), Kru, Dioula (the most widely spoken), Baoule', and Senoufo (Voltaic). With the wide variety of ethnic groups and languages in the country a wide variety of folklore and legends also will be found. "One of the most famous legends tell the story of how the Baoule people arrived in Côte d'Ivoire" (Gall 1998: 227). In their homeland of Ghana (bordering on the east) they held storage houses of grain but were attacked by other groups and were caught in famine. "Their queen, Abla Pokou, led her people to west into Côte d'Ivoire. Finding it impossible to cross the Comoe' river, the queen sacrificed her own child to the genies of the river, they in turn, in recognition of the gift, caused the trees to bend and form a bridge to a land of peace and safety" (Gall 1998: 227). Their name, Baoule', means "the little one dies".
     It is really hard to talk about this country as a whole in a very cultural way because it is a lot like looking through a kaleidoscope there are many very different ethnic groups and so things like rites of passage, living conditions and family life would be very varied throughout the country. One overarching universal for the country is a definite male dominated society although politically they have been ruled by both kings and queens in their history and now have presidents but none as of yet have been female.

adireafricantextiles.blogspot.com

     They have three official recognized dances: "the royal dance performed only by a king or tribal chief, the fetish dance performed by male initiates who have undergone initiation rites in the sacred forest, and the popular dance open to all including women" (Gall 1998: 228). The people of the Ivory Coast are expert weavers, woodworkers and sculptors and the Baoule' people are well known for making very intricately designed items. They are very specialized at making wood ceremonial masks for their dances and for other rituals. Many times these masks represent evil spirits such as a kplekple, which represents a horned beast and their most famous mask is the "fire-spitter" helmet mask.

http://hausergallery.wordpress.com/

     There are a great many social concerns but most of them stem from a growing poverty level due to rapid increase in population and urbanization. They had a 2nd Civil War is 2011 that ended quickly but was a reaction to the results of the presidential election that year. They also have one of the highest occurrences of HIV/AIDS outbreak on that continent.

Here is something to try at home! A recipe for one of their popular dishes, Yassa.

http://www.congocookbook.com/chicken_recipes/poulet_yassa.html


References:


Worldmark. 1998. "Ivoirians". Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. ed. Timothy L. Gall. vol. 1: (226-230). Detroit: Gale Research.