The evolution of agro-urbanism: A case study from Angkor, Cambodia

Carter, Alison Kyra; Klassen, Sarah; Stark, Miriam T.; Polkinghorne, Martin; Heng, Piphal; Evans, Damian; Chhay, Rachna

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101323

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…50-68). Such assumptions require further testing and fieldwork but form our working assumptions for modeling demographic trends within Greater Angkor (Carter et al, 2021;Klassen et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prasat and Pteah: Habitation within Angkor Wat's temple enclosure

Carter

Stark

Castillo

et al. 2022

Archaeological Research in Asia

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prasat and Pteah: Habitation within Angkor Wat's temple enclosure

Carter

Stark

Castillo

et al. 2022

Archaeological Research in Asia

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“…Each comparative case has evidence of authoritarian principles (e.g., for Angkor, Carter et al, 2021;for the Maya, Freidel, 2012;Martin, 2020). Because of the amount of research focused on major centers and associated inscriptions, both Angkor and the Maya have well-documented powerful rulers and centers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed Governance Principles in the Gulf Lowlands of Mesoamerica

Stark

Stoner

2022

Front. Polit. Sci.

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With antecedents reaching back to the Olmec era (1500–600 BCE), complex societies from CE 300–900/1000 in the Gulf lowlands display architectural and material culture indications of both authoritarian and collective governance principles over two large areas, each with a distinctive version of a common architectural layout. The two areas include multiple polities adhering to particular layouts of structures providing key urban services. Our information derives from pedestrian surveys and mapping covering about 5,000 km2, plus remote sensing over 53,000 km2. Remote sensing reveals the extraordinary extent and consistency of the predominant architectural patterns. Starting with the Olmec era and continuing to CE 600 some sculpture glorifies individual rulers, but, at the same time, architecture shows the importance of corporate groups and public access to services that represent a more collective emphasis. Between CE 300 to 900, monumental platforms that supported palatial residences indicate powerful elites and rulers. Long mounds located on each side of the main plazas likely supported multiple rooms used by corporate civic groups. In some centers, multiple plaza groups attest to division of authority across several factions, as do chains of plazas in other cases. Thus, both authoritarian and collective principles are built into the design of urban centers. The replication of common architectural patterns across the study area suggests open networks of interaction consonant with low-density urbanism in the tropics. We concentrate our discussion of governance in south-central Veracruz during CE 300–900, for which we have more complete data, and we more briefly characterize the larger temporal and spatial framework. Eventually these urban networks collapsed due to a complex set of factors, but one ingredient may have been increasing disparities in wealth and corrosion of collective action.

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“…Recent LiDAR surveys have enabled a fine-grained analysis of Angkorian urbanism based on the coordinated arrangement of its urban structures like city blocks, roads, temples, walled enclosures, mounds, and ponds (Evans et al, 2013;Evans, 2016). This work facilitated the creation of a diachronic demographic model of Angkor's growth and development over time (Carter et al, 2021;Klassen et al, 2021). Here, however, we take a closer look at Angkorian urbanism in the 30-km 2 civic-ceremonial center, dividing developments in this area into two broad phases: 1) axial settlements and ritual complexes (c. 9th-11th centuries) that we call the Formative Phase; and 2) the Expansion Phase (c. 12th-15th centuries), which introduced an orthogonal grid and large enclosed/walled settlements.…”

Section: Angkorian Urban Formmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The coherent spatial coordination of different neighborhoods discussed earlier, water reservoirs, linear features, and mounds in the Eastern District followed an axial urban configuration that began with the East Baray. Empty spaces between each neighborhood are interpreted as agricultural fields integrated into the urban design common to pre-industrial agro-urbanism (Carter et al, 2021;Hawken, 2013;Pottier, 2000b; for parallel case studies, see Barthel and Isendahl, 2013;Isendahl, 2012;Lucero et al, 2015). The 10th century temple neighborhoods like Kravan, Bat Chum,…”

Section: Structure Of the Eastern District During The Formative Phase...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That the city of Angkor was long-lived and remained the Khmer polity's epicenter for more than 600 years indicates its resilience: perhaps in part because of its agro-urban structure (e.g., Barthel and Isendahl, 2013;Isendahl and Smith, 2013). At Angkor, this is reflected in several different forms of residential patterning: a tightly clustered civicceremonial core whose urban anatomy and population density varied through time (see Carter et al, 2021;Klassen et al, 2021), and largely dispersed habitation beyond this core, containing house gardens and infield agricultural systems (Fletcher, 2009(Fletcher, , 2011; see also Evans et al, 2007;Hawken, 2013;Pottier, 2000b). Recent research suggests, however, that even higher-density state temple enclosures in the city's core contained occupation areas with likely household gardens (Castillo et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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