Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bonn 2009
In co-operation between:
E-mail:
reinecke@kaak.dainst.de
vlaychour@yahoo.com
sengsonetra@yahoo.com
When mentioning Cambodia, people immediately start to talk about the marvels of Angkor
Wat and the hundreds of temples and structures that are to be found in its vicinity. Since
July 2008, the country has a new attraction, for the World Heritage Committee recognized
the archaeological site of Preah Vihear as the second World Heritage Site in Cambodia. The
attention to these monuments is justified as there are only a few archaeological sites world-
wide that can stand a comparison.
That our attention has been directed to Preah Vihear we owe to the rescue excavations
– composed of a German-Cambodian team of archaeologists inspired by Dr. Andreas
Reinecke from the German Archaeological Institute – and to their findings at Prohear that
indicate already 2000 years ago there was a highly developed culture in what is known to
us today as Cambodia. Unfortunately, the looters of burial sites are in general faster than
the archaeologists who try to preserve the cultural heritage for mankind. Thus, it is a pure
coincidence that when the German-Cambodian team arrived on the scene there could still
be anything expected from the excavations. The mere fact that some parts a burial site hap-
pened to be protected under part of the village road was most fortunate for our knowledge
of this highly developed culture. That these limited parts of the cemetery would provide
such a wealth of artifacts came as a surprise to everyone. As I understand, the value of these
findings has yet to be established by archaeologists in the years to come.
This publication is an important contribution for the understanding of the highly devel-
oped culture of Prohear and its interactions with neighboring cultures. I am very happy that
a German archaeologist could contribute to the improvement of our knowledge on Prohear
and the people who lived there 2000 years ago and I thank the German-Cambodian team
for all their efforts and the German Archaeological Institute for its support. Just as Angkor
Wat represents the Khmer culture above ground, so will the burials and their offerings from
Prohear prove to be similarly significant for this long forgotten culture.
Phnom Penh
October 26th, 2009
Frank M. Mann
Since 1996, the Faculty of Archaeology at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh
has had an exchange program with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
with the purpose of providing lecturers from Germany to train undergraduate students
in archaeological fieldwork. Following this, in 2000, the Memot Centre for Archaeology
was established, and has since been playing an important role in the field of Cambodian
archaeology.
On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, I would like to express my apprecia-
tion and admiration for the German Archaeological Institute for its initiative to assist in
research, preservation, and public outreach with the publication of this book on the results
and analyses of the findings from Prohear.
This research has been brought to light by Dr. Andreas Reinecke from the German
Archaeological Institute. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks
to the German Embassy in Phnom Penh for its help. It is a huge effort for the German
Archaeological Institute to rescue the 2000-year-old cemetery in Prohear and to preserve
our heritage. The exhilarating finds at the site, such as a bronze drum and gold and silver
objects, help us to better understand this rich culture in Southeast Asia, and especially the
culture of Cambodia.
I hope that this book, entitled “The First Golden Age of Cambodia”, will spread the
knowledge of this culture to both people in Southeast Asia, and the people of the world as
a whole.
Phnom Penh
October 26th, 2009
Chuch Phoeurn
Secretary of State
Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts
7
Table of contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 1: A thrilling prelude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The story of Kong Sung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Chapter 3: Trying to puzzle out the secrets of the burial site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Chapter 4: More than just burials – insights into an unknown society . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Cemetery and settlement in a closed neighborhood? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Spinning and weaving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Blacksmith in every village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Iron ingots from the north? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Pottery production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Bronze casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 6: What the burial offerings tell us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
1 What ‘rich’ means . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2 Bronze drums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3 “Ordinary women … wear gold bracelets” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4 Water buffalo bracelet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5 The face under the bronze bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
6 The boy with a bell between his thighs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
1 Dating of the burials and finds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
2 The secrets of the human bones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Speaking dead – what skeletons tell us about people’s lives (S. Krais) . . . . . . . . . 104
3 Human teeth as passport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
4 Nothing but gold and silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
It depends on the right mixture (S. Schlosser) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
5 Small beads – big information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
How common were glass ornaments? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Bead variants in Prohear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Beads are excellent objects for studying ancient trade (A.K. Carter) . . . . . . . . . 120
Several types of potash glass of the last few centuries BC (J.W. Lankton) . . . . . 122
8
Preface
1 Angkor Wat, Archaeology in Cambodia is for the most part still associated
a high point of more with Angkor and its epoch, which was seemingly created by gods
than 1000 years of and built by giants. Time before Angkor is like a deep, black hole
cultural achievement
with an almost unknown prehistory. The roots of the amazing Khmer
(Photo: A. Reinecke,
era still lie in the wide shadows of the temples (ill. 1). Nevertheless
March 2007)
archaeology in this country is on a rapid upward trend resulting in
the unearthing of astonishing artifacts from the darkness. The for-
merly blank spots on the archaeological map between Thailand and
Vietnam are starting to fill quickly. Year after year, unexpected dis-
coveries from the previously unknown Bronze Age and Iron Age of
1000 BC till 500 AD are brought to light.
It began in 1999 with excavations by a Cambodian-American
team at Angkor Borei in Takeo province, where unknown red-
orange-colored fine earthenware ceramics from 2000-year-old lay-
ers excited the public’s curiosity. A short time later, additional news
Preface 13
2 Gold and silver Cambodia, like the whole of Southeast Asia, is in the middle of
jewelry from Prohear: an economic boom. In one or two generations almost everything will
Objects discovered change in this country. A rapid socio-economic development of the
in different burials
region is long awaited and gives all people hope for a better future. In
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
breathtaking speed road networks and electrical grids will replace the
millennia old traditions of village-based ethnic minorities. Archae-
ological sites or artifacts will be dismissed as prehistoric rubbish,
while others will be purchased illegally as unwanted art objects best
sold into collections abroad. Without any support, local researchers
have only a whiff of a chance against this turn of events. To be able to
oppose the bands of detractors, looters, middlemen and well-heeled
private collectors that outnumber them at home and abroad, one
must form an alliance. Thus, all successful excavations of the last ten
Preface 15
6 Khmer New
Year celebration at
the Ministry of Culture
and Fine Arts in April
2009. Present at the
ceremony was the
Minister of Culture
and Fine Arts of Cam-
bodia, His Excellency
Him Chhem (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
have been asked over and over again: “Why is Prohear so rich?” It is
a cemetery seemingly not only far from trade, but also from main
interaction routes somewhere in the interior of present-day Cam-
bodia. We will try to give an amazing answer to this question at the
end of this book!
*
Our work in the last two years was made possible by manifold sup-
porters. Our thanks go to the German Embassy in Phnom Penh and
the German Foreign Office’s “Cultural Preservation Programme”, for
support of the restoration of the valuable finds from Prohear in prog-
ress and enabling the printing of this book. We also wish to thank
all supporters of this German-Cambodian project who have allowed
or assisted in the cooperation between the Memot Centre and the
German Archaeological Institute (DAI), especially Secretary of State
H.E. Chuch Phoeurn as representative of the Minister of Culture
and Fine Arts Cambodia and all other excellencies of this ministry.
We are also grateful to Gerd and Bärbel Albrecht (Badenweiler/Ger-
many), Sok Puthivuth (Phnom Penh), Pheng Sytha (Dean of the Fac-
ulty of Archaeology), Ham Kimson (Director of the Department of
Archaeology), Heng Sophady (Director of the Memot Centre), and
all colleagues of the Cultural office in Prey Veng province and Chea
Ry, the Mayor of Prohear village.
For helpful ideas, comments and information we wish to express
our gratitude to our colleagues Norbert Benecke (Berlin), Bùi Phát
Diệm (Tân An/Vietnam), Emma C. Bunker (Denver), TzeHuey
Chiou-Peng (Illinois), Magdalene von Dewall (Neckargemünd/Ger-
many), Shawn Szejda Fehrenbach (Hawai-Mānoa), Ian Glover (Lon-
don), Karl-Heinz Golzio (Bonn), Wolfgang Hofmeister (Mainz),
Simone Krais (Freiburg/Germany), Bernd Kromer (Heidelberg/Ger-
many), James W. Lankton (London), Sergey V. Lapteff (Shigaraki/
Japan), Lê Thị Hương (Hanoi), Lê Thị Liên (Hanoi), Phon Kaseka
(Phnom Penh), Nguyễn Văn Việt (Hanoi), Astrid Pasch (Weimar/
Germany), Christophe Pottier (Siem Reap), Dougald J.W. O’Reilly
(Sydney), Thilo Rehren (London), Sandra Schlosser (Mannheim/
Germany), M. Mike Schweissing (München), William A. Southworth
(Bonn), Miriam T. Stark (Hawaii-Mānoa), Nancy Tingley (Wood-
acre/United States), and Sabine Werner (Bonn). A special thanks to
18 Preface
Alison Kyra Carter (Madison) for her input on the beads chapter and
reviewing the English version of this book.
We also wish to acknowledge the “Deutsche Welle”-Television
and especially Jörg Seibold for the enrichment of our fieldwork
documentation by the film report “Gold Diggers and Temple Res-
cuers – A Cambodian Expedition” that can be downloaded on the
internet7. This film gives insights into two current German-Cambo-
dian projects: the excavation at Prohear and the restoration work of
“German Apsara Conservation Projects (GACP)” under direction
of Hans Leisen from the Institute of Conservation Sciences of the
Cologne University of Applied Sciences.
The Commission for Archaeology of Non-European Cultures of
the German Archaeological Institute provided generous funding for
our excavation. Its assistance in promoting this and similar projects
has made the timely publication of the rich findings of Prohear pos-
sible.
It all began with Bit Meas, a village only eight kilometers southwest
from Prohear. In the fields near the village a 2000-year-old cemetery
was completely looted in the beginning of 2006 (ill. 7-8). The villag-
ers told us that many gold objects had been found among the burial
offerings. Now we wonder whether the Khmer name of the village,
‘Bit’ (stick on) and ‘Meas’ (gold), is pure chance. In May 2006, some
staff members from the Faculty of Archaeology of the Royal Univer-
sity of Fine Arts and the Memot Centre in Phnom Penh visited the
site and saved some of the valuable artifacts. At four different places
near the edge of the cemetery that was littered with looting holes,
there was a test excavation covering a total of 28 square meters. Mr.
Sok Puthivuth from Phnom Penh financed this rescue campaign,
and thanks to his support the Cambodian archaeologists were able
7 Location of Bit
Meas and Prohear
sites in Prey Veng
province (Map: A.
Reinecke)
20 Chapter 1: A thrilling prelude
to get various objects from the villagers and to take photos of some
items including earrings and a gold finger ring, as well as beads from
agate, carnelian and garnet. Unfortunately no more graves came to
9 Rescue
excavations on the
looted burial site of
Bit Meas, May 2006.
Vin Laychour, Seng
Sonetra and archaeo-
logical students from
the Royal University
of Fine Arts, Phnom
Penh, saved the last
evidence of one of the
richest Iron Age cem-
eteries in Cambodia
(Photo: Vin Laychour)
Chapter 1: A thrilling prelude 21
12 Beads of different
shapes and hard-
stones (length 0.9-1.9
cm) from looted
burials in Bit Meas
(all sold by villagers):
agate (from left 1-3),
carnelian (4-6), and
garnet (7-8) (Photo:
Song Sonetra)
10/11 Objects saved
by recovering them from the
looters in Bit Meas:
10 Gold finger ring with
a star-like decoration, diam.
2.15 cm (Photo: A. Reinecke)
11 A couple of gold ear-
rings, diam. 1.7 cm (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
8 John Vink, a photo-
journalist who visited
Bit Meas in April 2006,
reports about the loot-
ing activities at this
site: “Having found
light during the excavation, only some scattered ceramic vessels that some antique artefacts
were left in the ground by looters (ill. 9-12)8. in his ricefield, its
The looting activities at Bit Meas left a bizarre moon-like scene. owner sold the right to
But there was still another problem: it was clear to the farmers in the dig to neighbours for
2.50 $ per two square
surrounding areas that with prehistoric ‘rubbish’ in their fields they
meter. Soon, for over
could generate a higher profit than only the kilo price for regular a week, nearly 3000
iron or bronze scrap. During many months of industrious looting, a people were uproot-
network of middlemen organized the procurement of the archaeo- ing the area, some of
them having found
logical objects for the illegal and lucrative antique market. However,
gold, others beads
the disaster of Bit Meas also grabbed the attention of the Cambodian (worth between 0.25
archaeologists in Phnom Penh. Should such looting occur again at and 1.25 $), pot-
another place, they wanted to intervene before it would be too late. tery and teeth … but
One year later in April 2007, archaeologists from the Memot most of them having
destroyed…” (http://
Centre and from the Commission for Archaeology of Non-Euro- johnvink.com/story.
pean Cultures of the German Archaeological Institute began their php?title=Cambodia_
first joint fieldwork in Svay Rieng province (ill. 13-15). Although the Tomb_Raiders).
22 Chapter 1: A thrilling prelude
13 Survey in Svey
Rieng province, April
2007: With a hoe and a
metal detector salvag-
ers make their way
through Svay Rieng
province. Sometimes
scrap turns out to be
prehistoric treasures
(Photo: L. Reinecke)
14 Survey in
Svey Rieng province,
April 2007: Stone tools
from Toul Prasat Kro
Houm stored in the
museum, including
a single shouldered
adze (length 9.5 cm),
the first found in this
province (Photos: A.
Reinecke)
15 Survey in Svey
Rieng province, April
2007: Sugar boiling
kilns built from clay,
bamboo and rice
chaff are an important
part of a traditional
Khmer occupation
for hundreds of
years. They give an
impression of similar
simple constructions
of salt boiling kilns
3000 years ago at Go
O Chua (Photos: A.
Reinecke)
Chapter 1: A thrilling prelude 23
17 and 18 Vil- be and had equipped the Memot Centre in Phnom Penh and the
lagers discover one Memot Museum in Memot through the help of German funds and
of dozens of bronze donors. Seng Sonetra and Vin Laychour were their students. On the
drums in the middle
same day, Gerd Albrecht conveyed the bad news about the extensive
of May 2007 (Photos:
Hong Ranet)
looting of the remarkably rich burials with countless gold objects
and dozens of bronze drums, to Andreas Reinecke from the German
Archaeological Institute, who just some days before had returned
from his fieldwork in Southeast Asia to Germany. Nevertheless, it
was clear to all of us that we had to act very quickly. Gerd Albrecht
offered financial support for a rescue excavation, the DAI offered
immediate assistance as well, and Andreas Reinecke was ready to
return to Cambodia straight away. However, only at the end of 2007
was the green light given for an excavation at Prohear.
From March 2007 until February 2008, villagers from Prohear
hoed out their prehistory from the soil with the guidance of some
experienced ‘specialists’ from Bit Meas. All valuable items were sold
to middlemen who arranged for the objects to make their way to
the antique markets in Southeast Asia. There they will appear, like
so many other antiques from Cambodia. Quickly, the cemetery in
the center of Prohear, once the size of two soccer fields, was reduced
to the crater-like landscape of Bit Meas. However, there was a bless-
Chapter 1: A thrilling prelude 25
20 The villagers of
Prohear sold the iron
offerings they found
in the burials for 900
Riels (0.2 US$) per
kilo to the scrap yard
(Photo: Seng Sonetra)
21 Archae-
ologists from Phnom
Penh recovered a
range of iron tools and
bracelets (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
26 Chapter 1: A thrilling prelude
23 Bead offerings
from looted burials in
Prohear: glass beads
(blue), carnelian (red-
brown), and agate
(brown) (Photo: Hong
Ranet)
27
24 Location of the
Iron Age cemetery in
the center of Prohear
village from a height
of 1.32 km (Google
Earth 2008)
28 Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear
9 H. Mouhot
1864/1992, vol. I, 240-
255.
Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear 29
27 Excavation on the
main road through
Prohear in April 2008:
In the foreground
are the holes of the
looted burials. In
the background on
the left is one of the
recently built houses
fully funded by the
selling of archaeologi-
cal artifacts (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
28 Meeting in Pro-
hear before the begin-
ning of the excavation
in February 2008:
Cambodian archaeol-
ogists tell the villagers
about the impor-
tance of the burial
site and the needs
of an archaeological
excavation (Photo: Vin
Laychour)
30 Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear
29 The excava-
tion team is preparing
to sleep directly in
the excavation unit
(Photo: Seng Sonetra)
30 The pagoda
‘Preah Vihear’ in the
center of the village
gave rise to the name
‘Prohear’ (Photo: Moul
Kumnet)
the newfound prosperity of the families that had success looting.
The gossip factory was working overtime: “Foreigners want to dig
out our treasures”, was one of the more diplomatic versions of the
accusations against us. “Stop the thieves”, cried the looters, who were
certainly not aware of their own guilt! “All treasures in the ground
of our private land are our property”, – such was the conventional
wisdom despite all state regulations (ill. 27)10.
The Cambodian archaeologists were busy for several days provid-
ing a clearer understanding of our archaeological activities and to
change the atmosphere of resentment amongst the upset villagers (ill.
28). Nevertheless, within eyeshot of the archaeological excavation,
the last remaining undisturbed private land was burrowed through.
10 The “Law on the For the first few nights it seemed advisable for our archaeologists to
Protection of Cultural
sleep in the middle of the main road through the village, directly in
Heritage” of Cambodia,
enacted in 1996 by excavation Unit A on the newly discovered burials (ill. 29).
Norodom Sihanouk, *
contains all regulations The oral history of Prohear goes back to the 19th century. The name
to protect archaeologi- ‘Prohear’ refers to the original name ‘Preah Vihear’, the name of the
cal objects no matter
whether they are found
central building in the village pagoda, which houses the Buddha (ill.
on public or privately 30). During a lunch break we talked with Kong Chuong, one of the
owned land. oldest inhabitants of the village who was born in 1919. The alert man
Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear 31
31 They keep in
their memory the last
60 years of Prohear:
Kong Chuong and
his wife (left), and the
65-year-old musician
of Prohear village,
Kong Quern (right).
When he is playing his
two-string-fiddle all
around him are settled
in harmony and peace
(Photos: L. Reinecke)
32 Excavation Unit A
on the main road
through the village is
in close contact with
the daily traffic (Photo:
Seng Sonetra)
32 Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear
33 Prohear:
Overview of the
excavation Units A-D
– red: partly destroyed
burials, red/yellow:
partly destroyed with
gold/silver; yellow:
preserved burials with
gold/silver, black:
without gold/silver;
green: imported
bronze object (with-
out bracelets), blue:
garnet; T: drum or
fragments of a drum;
S: sword (Drawing: A.
Reinecke)
Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear 33
puffed on his hand-rolled cheroot cigar with relish, and reported that
in the 1980’s strange objects had already been spotted in the ground
(ill. 31). However, at that time all these strange artifacts were consid-
ered to be worthless garbage.
We can estimate the dimensions of the ancient cemetery by the
distribution of the looters’ pits that cover an area of about 125 × 150
meters, or almost 20,000 square meters. Our excavation area on
the village road cuts through the center of the cemetery. Before the
beginning of the excavations, the traffic through the village had to be
diverted through adjoining front yards and gardens. This required
tough negotiations with the owners (ill. 32).
During the excavation campaigns in spring 2008 and 2009 we set
out four units (A-D) on the road covering 45 meters in length and
2-3 meters in width (ill. 33). The whole excavated area is 116.4 square
meters, with 52 burials detected, many of which are only partly pre-
served or destroyed by digging in the past and present11. An average
of one grave was found for every 2 to 3 square meters, however they
were more densely packed in Units A and D than in Units B and C.
This trend of declining grave density continues as one moves away 11 Peculiar burials 1,
from the center of the cemetery. We can imagine that during the 6, 17, 37, 52.
34 Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear
35/36 The rainy
season is starting in
May so there is no
way to continue the
excavation. A tropical
downpours trans-
formed the unit into
a small pool in only a
few minutes (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear 35
looting of the entire 20,000 square meters area at least 1000 burials
were destroyed.
The upper burial layers were found at approximately 0.60 meters
under the road’s surface. With ceramic vessels, rows of pots, or a
scattering of sherds the excavation area appeared like an oasis amidst
the looter’s pits. However, this first impression was an illusion. While
scraping and cleaning the burials, sometimes our excavators sud-
denly broke through the ground. Long tunnel-like holes, up to 2.5
meters in length, had been driven in from both sides of the munici-
pal road to a depth of 0.7-1.2 meters. Almost half of all the graves
were partly destroyed by these horizontal ‘tunnels’ (ill. 34 and 38).
In some places the ground was so extremely hard that the ceram-
ics had to be uncovered with a hammer and fine chisel-like tools. All
objects, except ceramic sherds, received their own inventory number.
Ceramics were recorded in find lists of square meters and then clas-
sified by burial numbers. Burials were often placed so close together
that adjacent grave pits frequently touched each other. Thus, during
the excavation it was not always possible to recognize a clear separa-
tion between all the burials and their associated offerings. Only after
the completion of drawings and documentation were the graves,
numbering 1 through 52, and their offerings recognizable. The
ceramics were cleaned at the site. Portions of burials, especially those
that were rich in offerings, were lifted as blocks to be investigated in
the restoration lab in Phnom Penh. At present, this time-consuming
work is not finished yet and continues with the restoration of the
bronze and iron objects.
The excavation campaigns were limited by the beginning of the
rainy season in May. Some early tropical downpours, most notably
during the last days of the excavation in 2008, transformed the units
into small pools in only a few minutes. The rain destroyed profiles
and endangered uncovered graves. It is a credit to the ingenuity of all
staff members of the excavation team that all the graves were docu-
mented and rescued (ill. 35 and 36).
After many months of looting, our excavation assistants from
the village had excellent experience in digging burials, as well as in
recognizing different burials types and the arrangement of offerings.
Even on the first excavation day, they could predict the appearance
36 Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear
37 The 2008 of special items before we could see anything. As the excavation con-
excavation team tinued, they developed a good feel for the process of an archaeologi-
(Photo: Memot
cal excavation. With so many burial offerings discovered, they could
Centre)
tell us if a special item had never before been discovered in Prohear
or how often and where these gold, silver, bronze objects or special
ceramic types had already appeared.
During the excavation in February and April/May 2008, the
following archaeology students from the Royal University of Fine
Arts Phnom Penh belonged to our staff: Hang Nisay, Leng Vitou,
Kim Virum, Ty Chanpheany, Nep Chanlaksmy, Chea Narin, Moul
Konmnet, Chhun Sambor, Sakhoeurn Sakada, Em Kim Sreang and
Chhim Sotha. Additionally, Gerd and Barbara Albrecht and Matth-
Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear 37
ias Heinzel from Germany took part during the first campaign. They
all were supported by the ‘special team of experienced excavators’
from the village: Kong Sung, Rith, Sam-on, Wat, Pheak, Kosal, Yieng,
Yong, Leang, Vath, La, Yith and Nhep (ill. 37). In February/March
2009, our team included the archaeology students: Moul Komnet,
Em Kimsreang, Leng Vitou, Kim Phirum, Chea Narin, Ouk Neng,
Kath Srim, Tol Marady, Khom Poline, Huon Savong, Pho Mala,
Ou Kong Kea. The villagers Yong, Kong Sung, Leang, Kork, Phoan,
Pheak, Hour, Say, Soeurn, Meuy, Pheak, Ranh, Nhep and Nhen
strengthened our team (ill. 113, Chapter 10). The excavation team
was hosted in both years by Ms. Nuon, Ms. Sokleang, Mr. Vanndy
and Mr. Mi. We are grateful to all of them for their help and to the
villagers for their hospitality.
38 Chapter 2: Last chance for Prohear
38 Villager Kong
The story of Kong Sung
Sung found 7 bronze
drums while looting At this point we want to tell you the story of Kong Sung, one of our
in Prohear. Then he assistants who has taken part in all excavations. The 35-year-old Sung
was an assistant for holds one of the saddest records from the drama in Prohear. He has
the excavation team. dug out a total of 7 bronze drums – an entry fit for the ‘Guinness Book
In the background is of Records’. Like many other farmers he was only able to sell the first
a horizontal looting
drum for the scrap metal price of 7000 Riel (just fewer than 2 US dol-
hole that he and other
lars) per kilo of bronze. A short time later, the profit rose to 50 US dol-
villagers dug from the
lars for a drum due to a payment from a middleman from an antique
side, below the road
market. By selling 6 drums he could save 300 US dollars, enough to
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
buy the first water buffalo of his life. By owning a water buffalo, he
39 This stubborn
no longer needed to rent a buffalo to do his fieldwork. As an assis-
water buffalo cow
tant during our archaeological excavation, Sung saw the damage
costs the equivalent
caused by his deep looting pits, which destroyed so many burials (ill.
of 6 bronze drums. In
38). Countless bronze drums appeared during these looting activities
the background Kong
– more than had been seen before at any other site in Southeast Asia.
Sung, the owner of the
The farmers reported that the drums had a diameter of 35-60 cm and
‘bronze drum buffalo’,
is at a safe distance
contained a lot of jewelry, including gold objects.
from his new willfull
Sung’s water buffalo is an unconventional two-year-old female
property (Photo: A. who wants to graze all day and does not like to be bothered by her
Reinecke) owner Sung until it is time to return home late in the evening. If Sung
comes to her during the day, she senses there will be trouble and that
Sung is up to no good, so she takes to her heels. To take a photo of
this stubborn water buffalo, equivalent in price to 6 bronze drums, we
had to chase her for 2 km, and then encircle her to keep her in place
(ill. 39).
39
Chapter 3:
Trying to puzzle out the secrets of the burial site
In the excavations thus far, 52 graves have been uncovered, including
47 inhumations and 5 jar burials of children in large vessels of about
50 cm in diameter (ill. 44 and 60, right). By looking at the funeral
rites, head orientation, burial offerings, and depth we can separate
the graves into two main mortuary periods (I and II). Currently, we
are at the beginning of our analyses and their interpretation, and the
radiocarbon dates will be completed during the next months (Chap-
ter 8.1). Only then will it be possible to determine a well-founded
absolute time span of the successive mortuary periods. However,
we have gathered the following criteria to distinguish ‘early = I’ and
‘later = II’ mortuary periods and their dating (ill. 40-43).
I. The period I burials fall between 500-150/100 BC. This period
is comprised of four inhumations with the heads orientated east (No.
19, 51) or west (No. 21, 49; ill. 43). Additionally, all four graves are
unified by their great depth (0.90-1.45 meters). None of these contain
gold objects. It is also noteworthy that two of the burials included
garnet beads (21, 49). There are more interesting clues to the dating
of the ceramics. Two of the graves (19, 49) are equipped with pot-
tery vessels typical of burials at Go O Chua, in Long An province
in southern Vietnam (high pedestalled bowls, high pots with fun-
nel-shaped rim; ill. 45:1, 3 and 6, 8). The inhumations at Go O Chua
primarily belong to the 4th-2nd century BC.
Which other burials may also belong to mortuary phase I? This
includes grave 5, a jar burial of a child that was found quite deep
under the feet of burial 4 (ill. 44). We will have to wait for more
dates to decide if all the other jar burials12, which were most likely
dedicated to children, belong to mortuary period I. Burial 7 is more
likely from phase I, because this complex included a funnel rim pot
typical of Go O Chua. Furthermore, none of the jar burials contained
gold or silver offerings, and on the whole they were rather modestly
furnished.
II. All the other 43 graves are unified in period II (about 150/100 12 Jar burials no. 5,
BC-AD 100) by the same head orientation to the south, or slightly 7?, 29, 42, 48.
40 Chapter 3: Trying to puzzle out the secrets of the burial site
40 Unit D with
burials No. 26-51,
February 2009 (Photo:
A. Reinecke)
41 Unit C with
burials No. 20-23,
May 2008 (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
42 Burial 21,
found with garnet
beads but no gold-
silver offerings, was
found with the head
pointing to the west.
The burial was 25
cm deeper than the
head of burial 20,
which had a south-
north orientation and
was equipped with
ceramics and offer-
ings of iron, glass and
gold/silver, May 2008
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
43 These three
graves may be of three
children buried side
by side: Jar burial 48,
between burial 47, of
a 9-year-old boy with
his head to the south,
and burial 49, of a
6-year-old child with
the head oriented to
the west; March 2009
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
44 The mortuary
vessel from burial 5
(diam. 45 cm) with
cover (mouth diam.
29 cm). Inside the jar
were a pig mandible,
a bronze bangle, and
the bones of a child
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
look like a pure coincidence. This bottle has never been found in a
mortuary period I burial, but was discovered in six additional period
II burials that haven’t yet been more specifically classified. Should
they also be ‘candidates’ for phase IIb?
Moreover it is remarkable that at Go O Chua, the graves furnished
with high-pedestalled bowls or high pots with a funnel-shaped rim
are very common (in 21 of 64 burials), while small bottles with a
globular body are more infrequent (found in only three graves). These 16 After S.S. Feh-
small bottles have never been discovered together with the aforemen- renbach (2009) and
M.T. Stark (2001) they
tioned bowls or pots. Based on the huge number of bottles found in
belong to the “Bur-
mortuary phase IIb at Prohear, we must now seriously reconsider the nished Earthenware
chronology at Go O Chua. Perhaps a few burials with small bottles group” which should
are from a later, unexpected mortuary phase at Go O Chua dating to be diagnostic of Phase
the 1st century BC, but had fewer burial offerings than contemporary I at Angkor Borei (c.
500–200 BC) – see S.S.
inhumations at Prohear. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that Fehrenbach 2009, 32,
the high-pedestalled bowls belong to the most ancient ceramic ware Fig. 3.2, Tag 689.2, and
group of Phase I at Angkor Borei16, which corresponds to the burials p. 33.
44 Chapter 3: Trying to puzzle out the secrets of the burial site
45 The pottery dating from the 4th to the 2nd century BC of Go O Chua, but the small
vessels from Go O bottles belong to a later Phase II at Angkor Borei17.
Chua in Long An prov- These small bottles are a very interesting kind of ceramic and
ince (above) are very
have not been discovered in the adjacent Sa Huynh culture. They
similar to the ceramics
from mortuary phase
are only about 6-7 cm high, but have a belly diameter up to 12 cm.
IIa in Prohear (bottom) With such an unusual shape and because the restricted aperture can
(Photos: A. Reinecke; be closed perfectly with a cork or stopper, they likely only contained
drawing: Tô Trần Bích special liquids, such as medicine, intoxicating liquors, aromatic oils,
Thúy) ointment, or even precious seeds.
The chronological framework for the ceramics at Go O Chua,
17 S.S. Fehrenbach,
p. 176, Subclass Ib, Tag dating from the 4th-1st century BC, and for Vat Komnou, dating from
2758; they belong to his the 2nd century BC to AD 300, is quite broad18. Therefore at present
Phase II of the ceramic we can only suggest that mortuary period I at Prohear began during
chronology (c. 200 BC the main mortuary phases of Go O Chua, and that mortuary period
– AD 300), see p. 48.
18 M. T. Stark 2001,
II of Prohear should be parallel with the latest burials of Go O Chua
28; S.S. Fehrenbach and the first half of Vat Komnou (ill. 119).
2009, 29.
45
46 Burials 3
and 12 in Unit A. 1
– Burial 3: Two bowls
were placed with
their mouths directly
on both sides of the
unpreserved skull. 2
– After taking off the
bowl on the left side
and looking inside,
we found two gold
earrings. When we
took off the second
bowl on the right side,
we found four more
earrings that look
more like silver. 3/4
– Burial 12: A goblet
covered the left side
of the skull perhaps of
a man. 5 – Under the
goblet we found two
spiral rings made from
silver or gold and a contained a human skull, it is conceivable that the drum together
silver earring (Photos: with the corpse was wrapped into a mat woven from bamboo fibers
1-2 A. Reinecke; 3-5 (ill. 47).
Seng Sonetra) Wrapping the dead body in a wattle mat or woven shroud was a
common and a widespread practice in that area, as suggested by addi-
tional observations at the Bronze Age burial site of Koh Ta Meas in
Siem Reap province21. Apparently, it was not unusual to combine this
practice with the use of wooden coffins, like those at the Bronze Age
period 2 burial complex (1000-900 BC) from Ban Non Wat in north-
eastern Thailand22. As well as from some Iron Age burial sites of the
Dong Son culture (600 BC-AD 100) like from Dong Xa in Hung Yen
21 C. Pottier 2006, province or Yen Bac in Ha Nam province in northern Vietnam23.
305. A very specific burial custom of the rich at Prohear was to be
22 C. Higham / T. buried with their head in a bronze drum, as we discovered in burial
Higham 2009, 130.
23 Nguyễn Việt 2006,
4 (ill. 47 and 63). Villagers told us, that they observed this strange
88-89; J. Cameron mortuary custom many times. Until now, this funeral custom was
2006, 196-198. only known beyond Southeast Asia, from the burial site Kele in the
Chapter 4: More than just burials – insights into an unknown society 47
the Go O Chua site that small, circular cord-marked pots near the
head kept the remains of fish and pork bones for the last meal on the
way to the afterlife. The same is assumed for Prohear’s burials.
To be able to tell something about the fate of the individuals of
Prohear, the skeletal remains must be examined and have to be cor-
related and interpreted in context with the offerings. This interpre-
tation often walks a fine line between truth and speculation, but is
worth the trouble and risk. Unfortunately, no skeletal remains sur-
vived in half of the graves due to the soil conditions, especially in
the upper layers of the ground as the destruction of burials left only
ceramics at one end of a burial in their original place. This destruc-
tion is the main reason that we found only some bones or teeth in an
additional quarter of the graves. The best preserved interments come
from graves from a deeper layer, about 0.90-1.45 meters under the
surface24. In view of this desolate situation, it is even more astonish-
ing what our anthropologist, Simone Krais (Freiburg), could find out
about the ancient people of Prohear during several weeks of cleaning,
preservation, and investigation of all the small bone fragments and
teeth in the Memot Centre in April / May, 2009 (see Chapter 8.2).
In 52 burials, women, men and children of different ages have
found their final resting place. Thus, Prohear is a typical ‘mixed’
occupancy cemetery like most other Metal Age burial sites in this
region. Let’s have a look at the statistics. Unfortunately, from about
one dozen graves there were no evaluable anthropological or archae-
ological artifacts available to classify them as ‘child, woman, or man’.
When we take all the evidence together, as well as the ‘vague sus-
picions,’ then we have a total of 6 men, 18 women and 17 children
(Infants I and II).
This demographic distribution may be surprising, however, it is
explicable. The high child mortality for Prohear’s population 2000
years ago fits in well with some other burial sites of the same period.
This is much more representative for a prehistoric group than the
ratio found at Go O Chua, which had only seven child interments
out of a total of 52 anthropologically evaluable dead. As a compari-
24 Burials 4, 15, 16,
19, 21, 33 and 49.
son, at the Bronze Age burial site of Ban Lum Khao (1250-400 BC) in
25 K.M. Domett 2004, northeastern Thailand the estimation of age resulted in 51 children
117. of 110 individuals25. At the later Iron Age cemetery of Noen U-Loke
Chapter 4: More than just burials – insights into an unknown society 49
48 Burial 22 in Unit
C, May 2008 (Photo: L.
Reinecke)
49 Stone pestles
with traces of use
were found in differ-
ent looted (1-5) and
excavated burials (6-7)
placed between the
thighs of men (Photo:
A. Reinecke)
50 Burial 47 is the
inhumation of a 9-
year-old boy. His face
was covered with a
bronze disc, maybe
a shallow bowl or an
adornment disc (1).
Between his thighs
a bronze bell was
deposited (2) (Illustra-
tion: A. Reinecke)
(ill. 52) on his right wrist and a bronze bracelet on his left. Thus, gold
or silver jewelry adorned not only women, but also men and chil-
dren! As an impressive example for the much more jewelry-focused
offerings of women we will later describe burial 4, one of the richest
women at Prohear (see Chapter 7.1).
54 Chapter 4: More than just burials – insights into an unknown society
ently, this special ear-ornament and the preference for garnet beads,
just like many local ceramic types, ‘survived’ the new cultural influ-
ence that led to the change of burial orientation.
Of course, we are not only interested in the different funeral cus-
toms and offerings of women, men or children, but we also want to
know more about the structure of this community in Prohear 2000
years ago. We want to know: who was foreign and who was local?
Are there social differences? And how numerous was the population
that used this cemetery? Unfortunately, the 52 currently discovered
graves are not enough to deliver ‘hard facts’ on all these questions.
Here we have to work with ‘hook and eye’ and have to consider some
details to acquire preliminary answers.
Of these questions, it will be easiest to get an idea about the ratio
of strangers in the community. For that, 20 tooth fragments from
56 Chapter 4: More than just burials – insights into an unknown society
52 Silver bracelet
(diam. 6.2 x 5.5 cm),
before restoration
and partly coated
with black patina
from burial 40, most
likely a man who was
the only person of all
52 excavated burials
equipped with a
short-sword (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
53 Inhumation
15, possibly a man
between 20-29-years-
old, with rich offer-
ings: on both ears
about 20 blue-green
glass earrings (diam.
1.5 cm) were strung
together, on both
forearms a pair of
bronze bracelets were
found, additionally
he was found with
garnet beads (near
both corners of the
mouth) and some iron
tools (brown colored
objects near both
forearms) (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
with a hole at the top it looks like a public list of demands, taxes, or
presents that gives an impression about the value of cattle or slaves
in relation to other ‘natural items’ in ancient times40. Even if we lack
something comparable for Southeast Asia, this singular find points
to the fact of how much creatures were cherished.
The interpretation of ‘Prohear’s wealth-scale’ is complicated by
40 E.C. Bunker 1974, the destruction of most organic offerings by the soil conditions.
296. Therefore in many burials only some pig’s teeth survived, as they are
Chapter 4: More than just burials – insights into an unknown society 59
Finally, let’s take a risk and estimate the population size of the
community that used the burial site of Prohear. The burial density
of the excavated units of about 120 square meters projected onto the
presumed area of the whole cemetery of 20,000 square meters would
result in the incredible number of more than 8000 destroyed graves.
We have to reduce this number because we excavated nearly in the
site’s center, and the burial density of ancient cemeteries normally
decreases near their edges. Let’s assume a minimum of about 1000
graves. We can then speculate that the cemetery was mainly used for
about 200 years. In view of the high child mortality and average low
life expectancy, we can speculate people lived to about a maximum
of 30 years. We would then have to divide 1000 graves into about
seven generations and would come to at least 143 people or about
23 ‘three-generation households’ with an average of six people who
would have lived at the same time around their cemetery. Again, this
is not a demographic analysis on the basis of sufficient hard facts,
but a rough ‘minimum estimation’ with more unknown than known
factors.
Preface 61
For some problems there are still no clear solutions. For example, the
question of where did the dead of Prohear live? By this we mean they
settled not far from the cemetery in areas close to the contemporary 41 Similar obser-
burial site, but possibly not longer than needed for funeral purposes. vations are rarely
described in the prehis-
These could be places where generations before were buried, mean-
tory of Cambodia.
ing their houses would stand directly above the ‘forgotten’ graves. Interestingly, at Phnom
In contrast, these also could be places where the people settled at Borei a comparable sit-
first and some decades later moved their houses; burying their dead uation led to a contrary
directly under the former settlement. Although great parts of the interpretation: “Upper
artifact layers may
rural population in Southeast Asia currently have a distinct fear of indicate a period of oc-
the dead, it does not stop many villagers from having burials of pre- cupation post-dating a
vious generations amongst their gardens, in their fields, or next to period when the burial
their houses41. ground was forgot-
ten”, because “Khmer
tradition suggests that
Cemetery and settlement in a closed neighborhood? cemeteries are lo-
But what makes us think of Prohear as an enclosed area, or a neigh- cated far from the main
borhood, that includes both a settlement and a cemetery? First, in settlements and must
some sections of the upper layers of the excavated units we have be in areas that are not
frequently inundated”
discovered scattered sherds, which are not related to any grave and (K. Phon 2009, 5).
seem to be more likely the remains of settlement earthenware. Also At some other sites a
in deeper layers, we find jumbled objects between the burials like closed neighborhood
spindle whorls, fragments of iron and bronze, or single glass beads of a settlement and
burial site is also sug-
without any related context to the burials, indicating that there were
gested, but still lacks a
settlement remains side by side with burials (ill. 54). Secondly, while detailed description of
excavating in the eastern half of Unit D we found a cultural layer the historical sequence,
above the burials with so much iron slag that it is beyond any doubt e.g. Go Thap in Dong
Thap province (Le Thi
that these must be the remains of an iron workshop. We can assume
Lien 2006).
that this may have taken place very close in time and space to the 42 Iron slag was
funeral activities, because some of the slag had direct contact with found close to offerings
the upper layer of burial ceramics. Sometimes they were not even in the following burials
separate from the burial offerings42. There was even a glass bead in Unit C: burial 20;
Unit D: burial 26, 27,
adhered to the bottom side of a piece of slag (ill. 55). Spindle whorls 28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35,
and iron slag are clear evidence for local handicrafts and therefore 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43,
we want to investigate this in more detail. 47, 51.
62 Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear
54 A collection
43 There are two ex- of spindle whorls
amples to help date the from both burials and
rise of this typical vil- settlement contexts
lage handicraft: An Son (Photo: A. Reinecke)
in Long An province
is a late Neolithic site
with settlement layers
and burials without any
bronze objects or proof
of a bronze foundry
and can perhaps be
dated from the 3rd
until the end of the 2nd
millennium BC (M.
Nishimura / Nguyen
Kim Dung 2002, 107).
After four excavation
campaigns (1997,
2004/2005, 2007, 2009)
no spindle whorls have
yet been found at An
Son (Pers. comm. Bùi
Phát Diệm on 26th
August 2009). At the
Bronze Age settle-
ment and burial site
of Doc Chua in Binh
Duong province (about Spinning and weaving
800-400 BC) about 450 Let’s start with the spindle whorls, which were invented many times
spindle whorls were
across the globe. In Southeast Asia there is widespread evidence for
discovered (Ðào Linh
Côn / Nguyễn Duy Tỳ local spinning and weaving technology and textile production at sites
1993, 111-115). This of the last millennium BC43. Spindle whorls have a hole in the center
matches well with C. where they were put on a rod to form a weight for a vertically used
Higham’s observation
hand spindle for twisting and extending fibers. The fibers may have
at Ban Non Wat in
northeast Thailand, come from ramie or other suitable long-fibrous plants with enough
where spindle whorls tensile strength to be woven on looms.
are typical for his At Prohear, we discovered 50 spindle whorls in burials, the bulk
Bronze Age burials of of which are offerings for women, and 11 samples in settlement con-
period 5 dated from
700 to 420 BC (C.
text. Altogether, they are typically conically shaped clay weights with
Higham / T. Higham a diameter of up to 4 cm, and a height of up to 2 cm (39 pieces), there
2009, 131, 137). are also rarer wheel-shaped (7) examples. Spindle whorls are also
Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear 63
55 The palm-
sized hearth bottoms
from metal-smith-
ing discovered in a
settlement context or
sometimes directly
on the burials. On the
surface of one sample
a glass bead is fixed
(Photos: A. Reinecke)
that socketed axes, bracelets, and blades for knives or daggers were
buried with the dead (ill. 57, 101, 102).
Certainly, early Iron Age smithing hearths are less frequently dis-
covered in Southeast Asia than slag. A large clay fragment that was
brought to light during a joint excavation of the German Archaeo-
logical Institute with archaeologists from the University of Hanoi
and the Provincial Museum Long An in 2005 at Go O Chua pro-
vides a first impression of a smithing hearth with blower. This burnt
clay object, with an oblique hole through it, was part of the tuyere-
segment of the wall around a smithing hearth. It was found on the
ground of a burial pit, near some iron slag and the skull of a person
Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear 65
buried during the 4th-1st century BC. We are not sure if it is really
an offering, even though it was found in a grave, or if it found its
way into the ground beneath the skeleton by chance. A similar com-
plex was discovered at Noen U-Loke in northeastern Thailand and is
described as “small clay furnace equipped with tuyeres”49.
These three almost contemporaneous sites suggest that a black-
smith was part of daily life in nearly every village, as early as the pre-
Funan era in the region between northeastern Thailand and south-
ern Vietnam. This is true no matter if the settlement was rich like
Prohear or poor like Go O Chua. The list of early Iron Age sites with
smithing slags in the southern part of mainland Southeast Asia could
be made more complete through a re-examination of the museum
deposits. These important remains of early ironworking are often not
well described in the brief excavation reports50.
If we realize that the first iron objects existed in this region just
prior to 400 BC, then this is the verification of metal working as a
common handicraft during 3rd-1st BC. It is a surprising indication
of the timely manner in which new professions could be established
despite the raw material having to be imported.
56 A ‘buffalo
bracelet’ made from
iron (diam. 5.7 x 8.3
cm). Its long horn
ends are broken and
lost. This object was
recovered from a
looted burial (Photo:
A. Reinecke)
Bronze casting
It is tempting to assume that all the bronze drums and bracelets could
have been produced directly at Prohear or nearby surroundings by
immigrant bronze casters, but presently there is no evidence for this.
We have not yet found evidence for smelting and casting of bronze at
Prohear, not even a small fragment of any casting mold from stone
or clay. Moreover, for the 1st millennium BC we know of only a small 55 Burials 6 (2 pieces)
number of sandstone molds from the deep Cambodian interior from and 10.
68 Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear
O Pie Can in the Mlu Prei region (Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear
56 P. Levy 1943, provinces) or from Samrong Sen56. In addition, we must mention a
38-39. mold fragment perhaps of a bronze bowl from an unknown context
57 Pers. comm. Dou-
gald J.W. O’Reilly on
at the Iron Age burial site Phum Snay, which is similar to a bowl
24th July 2009. found in burial 33 from Prohear (ill. 78)57. This was a very unex-
58 B.-P. Groslier 2006, pected find because these bronze bowls have been assumed to have
116-117. a southern Chinese origin. Should this artifact be confirmed, then
59 Dương Đức Kiêm /
the hypothesis of ‘itinerant craftsmen’ from southern China or else-
Thái Qúy Lâm / Nguyễn
Ngọc Liên / Phạm Vũ where would get a new push.
Luyến 2005, 56. The long distance to known copper-tin deposits in Southeast Asia
60 Atlas of Mineral also works against local bronze casting in the surroundings of Pro-
Resources – Cambodia hear. So far, profitable copper or tin sources are not known in this
1993, 39; B. Bronson
1992, 80, 83-84.
region. One must ask why historical listings include copper and tin
61 Dương Đức as local products58. The nearest tin deposits are located about 320
Kiêm / Thái Qúy km to the east in the southern surroundings of Da Lat59. It is hard to
Lâm / Nguyễn Ngọc believe that tin resources of Knong Ay in Kampong Speu province,
Liên / Phạm Vũ Luyến
discovered in 1964 with “no exploitable concentrations of cassiter-
2005, 56, 68; Atlas of
Mineral Resources ite”60 played any role in earlier times. Profitable deposits of copper
– Cambodia 1993, are not found any closer central Vietnam, but there is also no evi-
39, 21-23; B. Bronson dence for exploitation in ancient times61.
1992, 78-79. Altogether we can sum up that the indications for local bronze
62 C. Higham 2001,
17.
casting within the borders of the present-day Cambodia are very
63 S. Natapintu 1988; few, not only for the early Metal Age but for all periods. This could
V.C. Pigott / G. Weis- be because of the current state of research on the subject. It seems
gerber 1998, 140, 151; more likely that final bronze products, not ingots, were imported
T.O. Pryce / V.C. Pigott
from casting workshops situated near the deposits or trade routes.
2008.
64 In this context, as Favored suppliers are bronze workshops in the Khao Wong Pra-
example for an interest- chan Valley in central Thailand or the Phu Lon site on the banks of
ing recently discovered the Mekong River near Vientiane in northern Thailand, with direct
complex is a burial
access to copper62. At Phu Lon the major mining activities occurred
from Ban Non Wat of
a bronze founder who during the 1st millennium BC63. Foundries in northeastern Thailand
was equipped with near the Mun or Mekong Rivers, two ‘highways’ of that period, may
29 clay bivalve molds have carried out both production and acted as an intermediary for
that is dated in his customers in present-day Cambodia. This is suggested by the great
Bronze Age – Period
4 (800-400 BC) (C.
quantity of molds and other workshop remains in this region64.
Higham / T. Higham In contrast, we also have to consider possible suppliers from the
2009, 131). Dong Nai River area, which is much closer to southeast Cambodia.
Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear 69
58 Bronze casting
molds have not yet
been discovered at
Prohear. This piece
is a half of a ceramic
bivalve mold (5.5 cm
wide) from a settle-
ment context on the
northern hillock of Go
O Chua and was used
for casting a sock-
eted axe (length 8.3
cm) more than 2500
years ago (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
This area is also known for having a strong bronze working tradition
as attested by the many casting sites and numerous molds and char-
acteristic bronze artifacts dating to the first half of the first millen-
nium BC. At the Bronze Age site of Doc Chua in Binh Duong prov-
ince, at present 70 km away from the sea-coast, a rich collection of
more than 70 fragments of sandstone molds was excavated65. Some
other more coastally-oriented sites take second place to Doc Chua,
but their artifacts were primarily collected from the surface, rather
than excavated. For example, at Cai Van and Cai Lang in Dong Nai 65 Đào Linh
province, two adjacent sites in a salt marsh, there are 35 stone and Côn / Nguyễn Duy Tỳ
1993, 74-91.
ceramic molds without exact dates. Or as a final example, the Bung 66 Phạm Đức Mạnh
Bac site in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, which has provided about 30 1996, 35, 135-148;
fragments of sandstone molds66. 2007.
70 Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear
59 ‘Undercover These are all settlements in which bronze casting probably started
archaeologists’ are shortly after the beginning of the last millennium BC, and at that time
under the close watch were situated within earshot of the sea. Although hard to believe,
of ‘village experts’
that seems true as well for the Bronze Age settlement and salt boil-
(Photo: L. Reinecke)
ing site of Go O Chua (1000-500 BC), which is at present situated
within the border area of Long An province and about 140 kilome-
ters from the sea. Go O Chua, and about a dozen other Bronze Age
salt boiling sites in the eastern region of the so-called ‘duck’s bill’, the
narrow corner of southeast Cambodia, may not have been far from
a yet undiscovered narrow inlet in the plains of the Vam Co Tay and
Vam Co Dong River67. Go O Chua also has ten fragments of ceramic
molds (ill. 58)68.
67 A. Reinecke 2009b.
The problem concerning the southern bronze workshops is that
68 A. Reinecke 2008, around 400 BC bronze casting seems to break down in the south-
401. ern Vietnamese region. There are several reasons for this. Firstly,
Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear 71
the use of bronze for tools or weapons lost its meaning to up-and-
coming iron, playing only a secondary role as a jewelry metal. The
metal workers adjusted themselves to completely new demands. A
second reason that supports this reorganization is that from the 4th
century BC the Dong Nai River area came under the control and
cultural influence of the Sa Huynh culture, which originated in cen-
tral Vietnam69. The Sa Huynh people were apparently masters of
iron products, whereas bronze objects like some weapons were rare
and imported. Even bronze jewelry is rarer in the Sa Huynh culture
than at Prohear. The third reason for the breakup of all the tradition-
rich casting workshops in the Dong Nai and adjacent areas could be
that the connections to the overseas raw material trade network was
gradually breaking as their distance to the sea increased. During the
last millennium BC the sea level fell and the sea coast regressed to its
present border. The ships with all their cargo passed by the former
casting workshops more and more. Certainly this natural process 69 This is suggested
by sites like Hang Gon,
also caused the end of the salt boiling centers near the Vam Co Tay
Phu Hoa, Dau Giay,
River at about 500 BC. Suoi Chon, all together
What is certain is that the inhabitants of Go O Chua and the sur- Dong Nai province,
rounding area changed from bronze casting to iron smithing. How- or Giong Ca Vo und
ever we are still unclear as to where the settlements in the Cambo- Giong Phet, both
Ba Ria – Vung Tau
dian interior, like Prohear, now got their salt. Large areas farther to province.
the south in the Mekong Delta were unsuited for colonization and 70 Some of these
agriculture until the beginning of the first millennium AD. There it isolated ‘landmarks’
needed many centuries to cultivate salty soils and dense woodland of of ancient southern
colonization in the
mangroves. This is clearly demonstrated by mapping all sites of the
Mekong Delta, due to
pre-Christian era, revealing a concentration of almost all discoveries special geomorpho-
along a strip of land south of the present-day Cambodian border, logical conditions, are
with the exception of only a few interesting solitary settlements70. Giong Noi in Ben Tre
province, My Nghia in
In this context, when faced with the impressive Khmer bronze art
Tien Giang province
of the Angkor period we must ask where all these beautiful things and Rach Nui in Long
were actually produced71. Emma C. Bunker has brought up this mat- An province – probably
ter under discussion: “The fact that few Khmer foundry remains all from the pre-Iron
have been discovered at Angkor…suggests that the creation of major Age!
71 E.C. Bunker / D.
metal images took place in temporary foundries set up in temple Latchford 2004, 16-17.
precincts that were afterwards removed, leaving little material evi- 72 E.C. Bunker 2006,
dence of their existence”72. This is different from Vietnam, where we 1.
72 Chapter 5: Settlement and handicrafts at Prohear
This chapter will provide a closer look at the offerings in the burials.
Most graves contain a set of things in different combinations includ-
ing ceramic vessels, animal food remains (primarily only pig is pre-
served), metal jewelry, glass or stone beads, as well as weapons or
tools of iron, and more rarely bronze. In addition, some burials are
equipped with an imported bronze rarity like a drum, bowl or bell.
Ceramic ware, including many different vessel types, is at the top
of the list of belongings for the dead on the way to the afterlife. All
together, at least 260 pots were discovered in 52 burials. We cannot
quote their actual number yet because the restoration of the often
completely shattered vessels is still ongoing (ill. 60). We have an aver-
age of as many as five pottery vessels per grave, with the most com-
mon type consisting of a small pot with an ellipsoid cord-marked
body and a short conical neck (about 10-15 cm high, 15-20 cm
diam.). This type of vessel is distributed widely across cultures and
over several periods in almost all regions of Southeast Asia; it is the
typical daily ceramic ware. In Go O Chua, where organic remains
were better preserved in the soil than in Prohear, preserved food
remains were found several times in this vessel type (ill. 45:5 and
10).
The second most common items were small shallow bowls or
dishes with a low foot ring. They look to be a standardized size of
about 5-6 cm high, 14-15 cm diameter, reminiscent of modern-day
rice bowls in Southeast Asia. They might have been laid in the grave
exactly for this purpose. Most likely, they were not filled with food,
because they were sometimes discovered turned upside down with
their rim on the ground, like a protective cover on precious offerings
(ill. 46:1-2).
Aside from the small bottles with a globular body and narrow
neck (about 7 cm high, 10 cm diam.) already discussed in chapter
3, (ill. 45:2, 60 front-row, left), there were also many footed bowls
which were part of the standard burial equipment. From this we have
a very common miniature goblet-size variant (height <10 cm, rim
diam. <15 cm; ill. 46:4) that resembles modern dessert bowls, and
74 Chapter 6: What the burial offerings tell us
60 Vessels from with some imagination we can think they were used for serving deli-
different burials in cious sweets. Actually, in burial 12 such a goblet covered the left side
Prohear (Photo: A.
of the skull with some precious offerings (ill. 46:3-5). Rarer still is a
Reinecke)
larger footed bowl (height >15 cm, rim diam. >20 cm; ill. 60, in the
center, left and right from the orangeware pot), that looks like a pres-
ent-day footed fruit bowl.
The other vessel types are large storage jars or funeral bowls,
including high pots with funnel-shaped rim (ill. 45:8), large cylindri-
cal basins (ill. 60, last row, second right) or high-pedestalled bowls
(ill. 45:6). None of these vessels have a handle, and in comparison to
other cemeteries it is remarkable that at Prohear vases or vessels with
a multiple segmented silhouette are absent. Apart from cord impres-
sions the ceramics as a whole are poorly decorated (ill. 60).
The previously mentioned orangeware vessel from burial 4 has a
very specific feature: after firing this globular pot a hole was scratched
through its base (ill. 61). Evidently, the pot was made unusable before
placing it in the grave. Such a hole is often documented with crema-
tion urns in Europe, and called a ‘ghost-hole’, believing it was made
to allow the soul to escape. Therefore, could this vessel in grave 4 and
Chapter 6: What the burial offerings tell us 75
62 Blue glass
beads were often
adhered to iron brace-
lets. This means they
were worn as beaded
bracelets together
with iron bangles:
The photo on the left
shows the objects
during excavation in
burial 24, in the right-
hand bottom corner
is a carnelian bead in
situ. The photo on the
right shows the iron graves76 wore bronze bracelets on both arms, and in eight burials the
bangle after cleaning, dead had iron bracelets on both arms77. At first glance, this pattern
diam. 5.7 cm (Photos: is disorderly and not easy to follow as these differences are not cor-
A. Reinecke) related by gender or age. Is the choice of the ‘gold-silver body side’
only the result of individual preferences? Mixing of gold/bronze and
silver/iron on the same arm side has not yet been found. We will
have to continue to test this rule against the arm-focused jewelry of
the Pre-Funan culture by examining comparable burials from differ-
ent cemeteries across the region in order to be able to recognize the
groups (origin, clan, occupation, status etc.) behind this ‘irregular-
ity’.
Almost all of the iron tools are ‘everyday-tools’ which did not
belong to either a hunter or a craftsman. Only in burial 40 do we find
a short-sword, which points to having a clear weapon function. Most
other iron offerings are socketed axes, knives or daggers. We expect
further surprises from the restoration of the iron objects because in
many cases the approximately centimeter thick coating of rust does
not allow the exact identification of the object. Sometimes a shape-
less iron lump turns into two different iron tools after restoration.
In the following we present some ‘highlights’ amongst the offer-
ings.
63 Position of a skull
and some offerings
inside the bronze
drum of burial 4
after cleaning in the
restoration lab at the
Memot Centre (Photo:
M. Heinzel)
64 Gold-silver
offerings in burial 4
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
2 Bronze drums
Besides the gold and silver jewelry, the bronze drums give Prohear 79 In his pioneer-
ing work published in
a unique reputation among the contemporaneous cemeteries in 1902, the Austrian eth-
mainland Southeast Asia. The great number of looted but reported nographer Franz Heger
drums at Prohear found far away from their region of origin in (1853-1931) analyzed
southern China and northern Vietnam is unbelievable. After what 153 whole drums,
divided them in four
we have heard from the villagers in Prohear, we can speculate that
different stylistic types
every 20th grave contained a bronze drum. We already mentioned I-IV and dated back
that Kong Sung alone has dug out and sold seven drums (see Chap- the early specimens
ter 2). Some other inhabitants also reported that they had discov- of his group I to more
ered a similar number of bronze drums. This information agrees than 2000 years ago.
Since then, the earliest
with our own observations, because of 52 excavated graves only bronze drums until the
inhumation 4 still contained a complete drum and in graves 2 and end of the Han period
10 we found parts of drums that had presumably already been dug in north Vietnam and
out. south China are called
Heger I. The later types
At a minimum, we may estimate several dozen bronze drums
II-IV reach far into
for this burial site, which were lost for scientific evaluation. We only the historical periods.
have pictures of two of the drums. Villagers dug out one of these The fundamental
drums on the 20th of May, 2007 in the presence of some Cambodian importance of Heger’s
archaeology students (ill. 17 and 18). The drum from burial 4 is the publication becomes
clear by the fact that a
only one which could be saved (ill. 65). Unfortunately, it has been few years ago it was re-
deformed by soil pressure and the foot section is partly fragmented. printed in the Chinese
Nevertheless, we can determine the height of approx. 30.5 cm and language.
the largest diam. of 45.0 cm. Originally, four frog figures were placed 80 Nguyễn Văn
Huyên / Hoàng
around the border of the tympanum of the drum from which only
Vinh / Phạm Minh
traces remain. The drum belongs to type I according to Franz Heger’s Huyền / Trịnh Sinh
1902 typology79. This is the same type to which most samples discov- 1989, 26-27; Phạm Huy
ered in archaeological contexts from the 3rd century BC to 1st century Thông / Phạm Minh
Huyền / Nguyễn Văn
AD belong. Following the Vietnamese typology, it is a typical repre-
Hảo / Lại Văn Tới (eds.)
sentative for group C280, and according to the 1980 accepted typol- 1990, 52-131.
ogy in China it fits with the Lengshuichong type81. 81 Wenshan 2004, 37,
The main elements of tympanum decorations (star with ten rays 83-89.
in the center, stylized feathered men, and six flying birds) signal that 82 Phạm Huy
Thông / Phạm Minh
the drum from burial 4 is more similar to the somewhat larger drum Huyền / Nguyễn Văn
of Phu Luu in Quang Binh province in central Vietnam82 or to the Hảo / Lại Văn Tới (eds.)
38-cm-high drum of Truong Giang in Thanh Hoa province83 than to 1990, 176-177.
80 Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings
65 The bronze
drum discovered in
burial 4; height 30.5
cm, diam. 45.0 cm
(Drawing: A. Reinecke)
Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings 81
the four drums from the nearby area of Phu Chanh in Binh Duong
province84.
The second drum from Prohear, identified by a photo thanks to
the archaeological students, belongs to the same group C2 (ill. 66).
The main decorative elements on the tympanum of this drum are
composed differently: the 10-ray star in the center is surrounded by
zones of a meander, a band with double circles, a zone with radial
lines, and then not the stylized feathered men, but a meandering
band of three parallel twisted lines. It is possible but not clear to see
on the photo that the second main zone has flying birds. We cannot
recognize traces of broken and lost frog figures on the rim of the
tympanum – however, there may have been some. A similar tympa- 83 Phạm Văn
Đấu / Đỗ Như Chung
num can be seen on two nearby drums from Phu Chanh85 in Binh 2004, 106-108, 187.
Duong province or on the drum from Vinh Phuc in Binh Dinh prov- 84 Bui Chi Hoang
ince86. However, this type is found in northern Vietnam, too (e.g. Bac 2008.
Ly, Bac Giang province, or Dong Hoa I, Thanh Hoa province)87. 85 M. Yamaga-
ta / Pham Duc
Another Heger-I-type bronze drum from Prek Puoy in Kampong
Manh / Bui Chi Hoang
Cham province discovered in 2006, provides only a patinated frag- 2001, 103.
ment that is under restoration (ill. 67). 86 Hồ Thùy
Primarily, bronze drums are instruments and when beating the Trang / Nguyễn Thúy
tympanum they make an impressive sound resembling thunder. One Hồng 2004, 141-142,
485.
could hear the beating drum over long distances, and could com- 87 Phạm Huy
municate with neighbors or the ancestors in the other world. One Thông / Phạm Minh
could ask gods for rain or strike fear into the enemy troops before a Huyền / Nguyễn Văn
battle. Some minority groups used similar drums in the recent past to Hảo / Lại Văn Tới
(eds.) 1990, 182-183,
announce the death or funeral ceremony of a high-ranking person.
188-189.
Bronze drums were more than just percussion instruments, how- 88 “đô lão” see
ever. Historical Chinese and Vietnamese records suggest, that after Nguyễn Duy Hinh
their casting, they were submitted to a consecration by the whole 1974, 28.
89 Lê Tắc 1335/2002,
community and then became the property of the chieftain88, becom-
73; W. Eberhard 1979,
ing de facto the center of the whole group89. Additionally, the records 225-226.
inform us that bronze drums were an ‘acoustic weapon’ in battle 90 Ibidem; Đại Việt
until the 17th century90. Based on archaeological research we know sử lược 1377-1388, 44;
that bronze drums also had a different secondary function as magi- Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư
1697/2004, vol. II, 407;
cal or treasure containers. After a ‘personal history’ with one or more similiar information in
generations, they would be buried together with their high-ranked Chinese records, see C.
owner as an offering on their last way to the other world, as with Higham 2006, 20.
82 Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings
66 A bronze the graves of Prohear. Despite their many functions, during the pre-
drum from a looted Christian era they were never ‘normal trade ware’, and so their distri-
burial in Prohear
bution does not mark ‘trade routes’, ‘trade centers’ or ‘trade networks’
(Photo: Hong Ranet)
no matter how often it is claimed. Instead they were markers of traf-
fic ways, networks, and burial sites of the Yue elite (see Chapter 12).
Bronze drums originated in a world where most things were
impermanent. Most of the everyday objects were made of wood or
bamboo. Therefore, drums were not an everyday occurrence. They
appeared like a marvel, originating in flames, created for eternity,
and handed down from generation to generation with all their inde-
structible magical information. They were among the greatest mas-
terpieces that bronze casters had ever created in Southeast Asia. The
drums have a large size (on average about 50 cm in high) but are
relatively low in weight due to their millimeter thin walls. Further-
more their rich meaningful decorations, unique to every piece, are
Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings 83
highly challenging for craftsmen in both the past and the present. In 67 A fragment (30
April 2006, metal-workers at Tra Dong in Thanh Hoa province tried cm wide) of the tym-
panum of a bronze
to cast one of the biggest bronze drums of all time, with a diameter
drum from Prek Pouy
of 120 cm and a height of 95.7 cm. Unfortunately, at 260 kg the result
in Kampong Cham
was enormously overweight. province that was
Apparently, every drum is unique, because no duplicates have given to the Memot
ever been found. Fragments of molds for casting drums are seldom Centre in 2006 (Photo:
discovered, so in northern Vietnam two small pieces from Lien Lau RGZM Mainz, Sabine
in the area of the Lung Khe citadel in Bac Ninh province, may be the Steidl)
only fragments of the tympanum-mold piece91. This evidence sug-
gests that molds for drums had to be destroyed during their produc-
tion process and could not be reused a second time. 91 M. Nishimura
1998 and 2005.
A wall-fragment of the drum from burial 4 was analyzed with 92 For the method
energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDRFA) by Roland Schwab see J. Lutz / E. Pernicka
(Mannheim)92. The result shows that the drum was made from a cop- 1996.
84 Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings
per-tin alloy (74:11 percent) with high lead ratio (15 percent). In a
prior study of a relatively small number of samples of Heger I drums,
an increasing lead ratio was observed with younger drum variants.
This was explained by the growing experience of the drum makers
to increase the flow of the bronze during the casting process93. More
recently published metal analyses of the drums from southern China
93 D. Hollmann / D. to Indonesia show that about one third of all bronze drums show a
R. Spennemann
ratio of more than 15 percent lead94.
1985; more examples
confirming this trend
for the Chinese drums
see Peng Zicheng / Li
Xiaocen / Zhang Bin-
3 “Ordinary women … wear gold bracelets”
glun / Li Zhichao / Li
Kunsheng / Wan Fubin
As a whole we discovered 79 gold or silver objects in 52 burials from
1991, 358. Prohear. Furthermore, two small ring fragments were found in Units
94 For a large series of C and D without a clear relation to any burial. More than 15 gold or
analyses see Phạm Đức silver items came from looted burials, which are only known from
Mạnh 2005. After that,
photos. Thus the total number of all documented gold or silver orna-
more than 15 percent
lead is recorded in: ments is 96 pieces. Analyzed samples show that more than a half
9 from 39 drums in of all precious metal objects contained more silver than gold (see
Yunnan (pp. 153-156), Chapter 8.4). Zhou Daguan mentioned in his “A Record of Cambo-
37 from 87 drums in dia – The Land and its People” in 1297, that “ordinary women…wear
Guangxi (pp. 157-162),
16 from 37 drums in
gold bracelets on their arms and gold rings on their fingers”95, but
north Vietnam (pp. we never expected that 1300 years earlier burials could be equipped
188-190) and in 8 from with such rich gold and silver jewelry.
14 drums from the One third of all of the precious metal items are small spirals of
Indonesian islands (p.
at least one and a half coils (31+5 specimens; ill. 68:1). The longest
178).
95 Zhou Daguan spirals have up to ten coils and can be more than 4 cm long. Their
1297/2007, 55. diameter is up to 1 cm with a wire thickness of 1-2 mm. Their posi-
96 For the early tion in the burials is at the skull, indicating they could be ornaments
period of such orna-
for ears or hair96. Found almost as often were simple wire slit rings,
ments see the gold
“hair-rings” (German: with a diameter of about 1 cm whose ends do not or only partially
“Lockenringe”) from overlap by a few millimeters (21 specimens; ill. 68:2). Similar in size
Troja in M. Treister and shape are small rings, but with a thickened central section (8
1996, 203-206; or small specimens, outside diam. 1.4-1.7 cm; ill. 68:3). Both types are most
spiral rings of the 3rd
millennium BC from
likely earrings.
Georgia (A. Miron / W. All these rings and spirals are widely distributed ornaments in
Orthmann 1995, 75). many parts of the world and are relatively simple to make by ham-
Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings 85
68 Gold jewelry
from different burials
in Prohear: 1 – burial
25, 2 – burial 2, 3
– burial 4, 4 – burial
14, 5-6 – burial 3, 7
– burial 46, 8 – burial
33 (with blue glass
bead in situ), 9 – burial
18, 10 – burial 50, 11
– looted burial (sold),
12 – burial 10, 13
– looted burial (sold),
14 – burial 10 (Photos:
A. Reinecke; 11, 13:
Seng Sonetra)
mering and twisting gold or silver wire. In contrast, some objects tes-
tify to more specialized goldsmithing skill: two split earrings from
burial 3 were made from silver and gold and are similar in shape
and size. They are 13-tiered bicone shaped ornaments composed of
86 Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings
2.1 cm. Next both ends were bent, and then the overlapping ends on
the reverse were beaten together. All three finger rings having a sil-
ver-rich color are less elaborate than the finger rings without seam-
trace (ill. 64:7).
Two gold foil tubes were found in burial 33 and a third one in
burial 46. They are 2.5 to 3.0 cm long and if one rolled them out
they would be of rectangular shape of 2.5 to 3.5 cm width (ill. 69).
The diameter of all three tubes is about 1 cm, and the edges of both
tubes from burial 33 overlap about 0.5 cm. The tube from burial 46
does not have overlapped edges and differs from the other tubes by
lines of repoussé dots along the upper and lower edge (ill. 70). The
upper edge of all tubes is turned down to the reverse. Both pieces
from grave 33 show one or two holes in the upper corners, which are
absent in the tube from grave 46. We have only a picture of a fourth
71 Gold objects tube from a looted burial that includes a single bicone gold bead and
from different looted gold spirals (ill. 71).
burials. All were sold
All three gold tubes lay near the skull. The two pieces from grave
(Photo: Hong Ranet)
33 were directly under the upside down bronze bowl, which covered
the face of the dead person. Their use is not quite clear yet, but we
have four suggestions. First, they could have been part of a chain in
this rolled up condition. Second, it is possible that the tubes were
originally ‘rolled out’ and used as a pendant or as plaques fixed on
a base. A third interpretation could be that these were fittings for
thin handles of wooden tools. And last but not least, they could have
been used as decorative caps on long precious stone ornaments, such
as the tube-shaped agate beads with cartouche-shaped gold caps on
Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings 89
both ends, from a private collection103. The gold tubes on this bead are
similar in size and orientation to the tube from burial 46 (ill. 72).
It is also interesting to note which gold objects were discovered in
Prohear in surprisingly small quantities. In all 52 graves there was not
a single ‘normal’ gold bead. At least, we have photos of gold offerings
from looted graves and know that sporadically double-conical gold
beads (ill. 71) have been found. These are similar to beads from Lai
Nghi104 or Go Mun105 in central Vietnam. However, in Prohear gold
beads were nothing that stirred anyone’s blood.
Some broken pieces of gold-silver objects were also offered, e.g.
an earring fragment in grave 2. Such fragments are worthless as jew-
72 Long tubular
elry for the dead but maybe have a meaning as currency on their way
agate bead with gold
in the next world. Zhou Daguan discusses trade and currency in his leaf capsules at both
daily life, which might reflect a long tradition of commercial trans- ends; a burial offering
actions. He writes that “small market transactions are paid for with from a looted Iron Age
rice or other grain and Chinese goods… Large transactions are done burial in Cambodia or
with gold and silver”106. Vietnam in a private
By comparing Prohear with other cemeteries of the early Iron collection in Bangkok
and now for sale on
Age in Southeast Asia, we identify the unusual character of all these
ebay (length 9.6 cm;
gold and silver offerings, but we will come back to this issue in chap-
photo: unknown
ter 11. dealer)
73 In situ bronze of water buffalo bones (e.g. Phum Snay107; Ban Lum Khao108; Noen
bracelet in burial 4 U-Loke109).
(Photo: Seng Sonetra) The same bronze ‘buffalo bracelets’ were also found 340 km
northwest of Prohear at the burial site of Phum Snay. Unfortunately,
107 A. von der those objects did not come from an archaeological excavation, but
Driesch / D.J.W. from looted graves in private collections110. Moreover, during their
O’Reilly / V. Voeun excavations in 2001 an 2003, Dougald J.W. O’Reilly and Pheng Sytha
2006, table 1 and 3.
documented several bronze finger rings with a buffalo horn symbol
108 C.F.W. Higham
2004, 159-160. from looted inhumations (ill. 75). They found one such item in burial
109 M. McCaw 2007. 7 in 2003111. Similar finger rings from northeastern Thailand have
110 S.V. Lapteff also been published112. Also found in the same context at Phum Snay,
2008, 174, fig. 111.
were the absolutely amazing ceramic epaulettes, which included an
Pers. comm. Sergey V.
Lapteff (Shigaraki), on attached pair of iron or bronze buffalo horns (ill. 76)113. Even bronze
16th September 2009; helmets with horns have been found in the midst of the looted burial
M. Tranet 2008, 133, equipment114.
fig. 72. The symbolic buffalo jewelry arose during an early period and
111 K.M. Domett / D.
J.W. O’Reilly 2009, 73.
was widespread across southern China and Southeast Asia (ill. 77). It
112 A.J. Labbé 1985, is the reflection of a very distinctive water buffalo cult present in the
6. rich figural art of the Dian culture as well as by the gold objects from
Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings 91
74 Bronze bracelet
from burial 4, length
13.2 cm (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
75 Bronze ‘buffalo
finger rings’ from
looted burials at Phum
Snay (Photo: Dougald
J.W. O’Reilly)
113 D.J.W. O’Reilly / T.
Chanthourn / K.
Domett 2004, 225, fig.
10; S. Lapteff 2009, 13;
K.M. Domett / D.J.W.
O’Reilly 2009, 73.
114 D.J.W.
O’Reilly / K. Domett / P.
Sytha 2006, 217.
92 Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings
76 Ceramic
epaulette with affixed
iron ‘buffalo horns’
from burial 13-2003
at Phum Snay (Photo:
Bonnie Baskin)
77 Many differ-
ent bronze items from
early Iron Age sites in
Southeast Asia have
‘buffalo symbols’,
especially rattles or
bells like this object
(diam. 16 cm) from a
looted burial now for
sale on ebay (Photo:
unknown dealer)
southern Vietnam115. Its traces reach into the modern period. In the
18th century in Tonkin, the present-day northern Vietnam, buffaloes
were more an offering than a meal, a clear sign of great worship for
a work-animal in a country where almost all other living beings are
eaten116. And the long tradition of buffalo fighting is still practiced
on the 9th day of the 8th lunar month in Do Son community in Hai
Phong province.
belonged to the greatest bronze complex of the Han period ever found
south of the Chinese dominated area122. Another interesting burial
from the Sa Huynh culture was uncovered in Tien Lanh about 42 km
southwest from Lai Nghi in the same province, Quang Nam. In 2001,
Bùi Chí Hoàng excavated seven partly destroyed burials including
four jar burials that are typical for the Sa Huynh culture, but he also
uncovered some inhumations. Fortunately, burial 2 in sector 2 was
almost intact. The skeleton of the dead did not remain, but because
of the offerings it is assumed that the head was oriented to the east-
southeast, and the foot position was marked by pottery vessels. What
makes this burial so special is the 55 cm long iron sword and two
bronze bowls that were of different size but nested into one another
and placed upside down with their mouths presumably on the lower
abdomen or between the upper thighs of the dead123. Farther north
from Thanh Hoa province, small bronze bowls of almost the same
shape, size, and line decoration are standard features in rich burials
of the indigenous Han-Chinese elite124.
The custom of covering the head of the dead with bronze objects
like bowls or discs, as well as burying the head in a drum is seldom
attested to Southeast Asia and might be foreign in origin. We will
come back to this issue in chapter 11.2 in the context of long distance
relations at Prohear.
79 Bronze bell
(length 11.7 cm) from
a child’s burial, num-
ber 47 (see also ill. 50;
Photo: A. Reinecke)
The bell has a hexagonal cross section and is decorated at the end
with a ring made for suspension. Inside the bell there is no clear sign
of a hook to fix a clapper, which would mean it had to be struck from
the outside (ill. 79).
A bell of the same shape and cross section is not known from
125 Hà Văn Tấn 1994,
other sites in Cambodia or Vietnam. With its medium size, the bell
117-119, pl. XXXVI, from Prohear seems to be a cross between the great so-called elephant
513. bells without a clapper from the Dong Son culture125 and the small
Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings 97
80 Fragmented
bronze disc-shaped
object, maybe a
shallow bowl or disc,
covered the dead
person’s face in burial
47. Around the skull
about ten glass and
garnet beads are in
situ (Photo: Seng
Sonetra)
98 Chapter 7: Some highlights amongst the offerings
bronze bells from Guizhou province, which are only a few centime-
ters long with a ring on one end and include a clapper126. South of the
Dong Son culture bronze bells are few and far between127. Therefore,
the 2007 discovery of a bronze bell near the skull of an inhumation at
Hoa Diem in Khanh Hoa province is also worth mentioning128.
With only a small number of early Iron Age sites in Southeast
Asia it seems too early to look for parallels of these objects at sites
much farther away. As only a suggestion for the possible function we
want to point to a pair of bronze bells of nearly the same size (length
about 8 cm) with an octagonal cross section and a clapper. However,
the bells are missing the pointed top decoration. They were found
with the headgear of a horse from a site in Georgia, dating to about
700 BC.
126 Guizhou Sheng
Wenwu kaogu
yanjiusuo (ed.)
2008, 278.
127 A. Mirion / W.
Orthmann 1995, 328.
128 Bùi Chí
Hoàng / M.
Yamagato / Nguyễn
Kim Dung 2008, 126.
99
81 Current
measured radiocarbon
dates from Prohear
(November 2009)
of the cemetery that falls between 200 BC and AD 100; three dates
are older.
Within this time span fall most of the Prohear funeral activities
dated by radiocarbon dates from the south-southwest oriented inhu-
mations 3, 4, 33, 36 and 46. The charcoal sample from burial 3 was
found near the skull on the burial ground near the southwest edge
and gave the date 203-55 cal. BC131. This burial was rich in gold and
silver and in ceramic vessels; it also included two spindle whorls and
about 70 glass beads. We assumed that this inhumation of a woman
dates from the middle to the end of the last century BC, belonging
to period IIb. The radiocarbon date is slightly older, so perhaps we
131 Lab-No. Hd- should consider the possibility of the ‘old wood factor’, which results
27588: 2122+/-21
from using charcoal that did not originate from a freshly cut tree.
BP; calibration of
all dates at 2 sigma The charcoal from burial 4 was sampled directly inside the
with INTCAL04 and bronze drum and is dated from 44 cal. BC to AD 51132. This complex
CALIB5 (P.J. Reimer et is the most richly equipped burial of a woman more than 40-years-
al. 2004). old (see Chapter 7.1). The radiocarbon date corresponds well with
132 Lab-No. Hd-
27257: 2001+/-17 BP.
our expectations based on the archaeological artifacts.
133 Lab-No. Hd- In burial 33 we found a charcoal sample in an ideal position
28520: 2079+/-18 BP. inside the bronze bowl. The radiocarbon date of 165-46 cal. BC133
Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress 101
82 Cambodian stu-
dents of the Faculty of
Archaeology and Fine
Arts in the lab of the
Memot Centre during
cleaning and restora-
tion of fragile human
bones from Prohear
(Photo: Seng Sonetra)
83 Brush, scalpel
and a special glue,
Simone Krais is saving
the bone’s information
(Photo: Vuthy Voeun)
104 Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress
The analysis of the human remains from the Prohear burial site was
a special challenge for me as an anthropologist. The preservation
of the bones was one of the worst I have ever seen. The bones were
fragmented to a great extent, decomposed into many little pieces,
and huge parts of them were already dissolved. So I had to do plenty
of reconstruction and restoration work before I could start with the
conventional analyses. For example, there was a femur (thighbone) in
about forty little pieces; to reconstruct something like that takes lots
of patience and time.
Human bones store plenty of information about an individual.
Most fascinating is information and diagnosis of diseases, which
allows insight into individual life stories. One individual (burial 13)
femur shows a tumor that was partly encapsulated and partly incor-
porated with the circumfluent soft tissue. The same individual had a
healed fracture of the upper side of the metatarsals. Such a fracture
can happen through a heavy object falling from above on the foot.
Another individual (burial 15) showed signs of anemia and physical
stress and died at an age of 20 to 30 years. The most-probable can-
didate for the eldest individual within this society (burial 4) showed
extreme tooth wear, which almost eradicated one tooth and opened
its root canals. This is an extremely painful procedure that made the
consumption of food difficult for this person.
Despite all the interesting results found in bones, more data was
left within the preserved teeth. Teeth are the hardest material in the
human body, so they remain in the soil much longer than the softer
bones. Also, in the Prohear sanctuary the remains of dentition of
many individuals were found and they provided plenty of informa-
tion about the ancient people of Prohear (ill. 85:1-3). The strong wear
of the teeth was remarkable in all individuals. This tells us that the
people during that time ate at least partially very hard food or food
that included little pieces of sand or dust. The strong wearing of teeth
is commonly found in early settled societies. But among the people of
Prohear, even little children younger than six years had an extraordi-
nary degree of tooth wear that would normally not even be found in
a 90-year-old person and from modern, ‘western’ societies.
Another basic piece of information that teeth can give us is the
age of a person. The age of a person can be diagnosed very precisely
especially during the rotation of teeth, from milk teeth to permanent
Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress 105
teeth. The age at death of the people from Prohear ranged from
very young children to one person who died in later maturity. Many
remains of very young individuals were found; at least 25 percent of
the people died before reaching the age of 13 years. Within the teeth
of these young departed individuals dental enamel defects were
found, that are considered to be a sign for physical childhood stress.
This shows that the conditions of life were quite hard, especially for
young individuals. Reasons for that could be for example malnutri-
tion, raging diseases, or less care-behavior from adult individuals. This
result may be shocking for modern ‘western’ people, however it used
to be quite normal for these ancient societies and sadly is still com-
mon in some parts of very poor societies.
The age of a person can also be examined through histological
analyses. Like every mammal, human permanent teeth create ‘annual
rings’, similar to the annual rings of trees. Starting in the year of erup-
tion, teeth normally develop two lines every year, a darker and a
brighter one, in the outer areas of the permanent teeth root. To find
the age at death the number of dark rings are counted under a micro-
scope and added to the amount of years of average eruption of the
tooth. This method, called TCA (Tooth cementum annulation), is cur-
rently the most accurate method for the analyses of age at death. The
results from the TCA-analysis from the burial site of Prohear are not
available yet, but will probably give interesting information about the
people at Prohear.
Human anatomy is basically uniform, but nobody is exactly the
same, every body shows features that are uncommon. Some of these
anatomical variants are known as genetically bequeathed within a
genetic pool, such as the genetic pool of one population. If one of
these variants (called epigenetic variants) is found within the skeletal
remains of a population several times, it is a strong signal for genetic
kinship between the affected individuals. In the Prohear population
four individuals (burials 2,7,19 and 44) showed a very rare genetically
variant, a so called ‘foramina molaris’, which is a small pit in the molar’s
exterior (ill. 85:3). This is a sign that there is kinship between these
individuals. Further studies are planned for investigation. If this fea-
ture is found within other populations that lived close to the people
at Prohear, we may find evidence of genetic kinship to surrounding
populations.
By Simone Krais
106 Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress
84 Ready,
cleaned, and dis-
played for anthropo-
logical analyses: the
skeleton of burial 19
(Photo: S. Krais)
85 Teeth nor-
mally survive longer
in the soil than bones
– a lucky situation
for anthropologists
because teeth are a
record of the life and
environment of the
buried people. Teeth
can give indications
on the region where a
person was born, their
diet, or their age at
death. This illustration
shows: 1 – teeth from
an individual in burial few precious stone beads, and no imported bronze. In more than
26 with the preserved 50 burials excavated at Go O Chua, there was nothing that could be
human dentition of seen as the special property of a ‘non-local person’. The teeth from 34
an adult, 2 – teeth individuals were preserved and could be sampled using Strontium
from an adult in burial vs. Oxygen isotopic analyses to detect the ‘non-local individuals’.
33 with heavy wear,
This archaeometric method relies upon the variation of stron-
and 3 – a tooth from
tium isotope ratios in rocks of different ages and compositions. Soils
burial 2 that shows
a very rare genetic are formed from these rocks, and freshwater in contact with these
variant, called ‘foram- sediments shows the same strontium isotope ratio as the plants
ina molaris’, which growing in the soil. These plants are then eaten as food, which brings
is a small pit in the the isotopic fingerprint into the human teeth. Oxygen isotope val-
exterior of the molar ues change in different altitudes. In general, the higher the altitude
(Photos: S. Krais) the lower the isotopic value in the drinking water and in the tooth
enamel of an individual using a water source from a higher altitude.
Tooth enamel will not grow or change its isotopic composition after
the formation of adult permanent teeth. If an individual has a value
different from the isotopic composition of the local soil, they must be
interpreted as being of non-local origin. For standardization of the
local values of strontium and oxygen isotopes, a tooth of an animal
is also measured, because animals normally only consume the local
food and water142.
142 M. Schweissing
2004; T. Tütken / C.
From Go O Chua, samples of seven men and women show higher-
Knipper / K.W. Alt than-local values, thus they were most likely born in another region.
2008. A re-evaluation of their offerings and other bio-anthropological
Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress 109
information gave the three men in this group some special charac-
teristics. The first man was the only individual at this site that had
an intentional ante-mortem loss of two incisors. He was equipped
with seven iron arrowheads, which could indicate he was a hunter.
The skeleton of the second man was unique due to the skeletal traces
of an accident or a fall. The third man was buried with tiger teeth
amulets, which were quite likely offerings for a hunter. All seven
‘non-local persons’, including 3-4 women, were equipped with local
ceramics, an indication that they were not really seen as ‘strangers’
but well integrated.
Let’s return to Prohear. During the excavation and documenta-
tion, we paid close attention to burials that showed ‘non-local fea-
tures’ in funeral customs or offerings. In Prohear these are very
clearly the burials 4, 33 and 47 because of the exceptional bronze
offerings (drum, bowl, bell, and disc). In addition, one can specu-
late as to whether the graves of the mortuary period I (jar burials
and graves with head in east- or west-orientation) could be classified
as ‘local’, and the earliest graves with south-orientation of mortuary
phase IIa classified as ‘non-local’.
Because most skeletons are not available or poorly preserved,
‘aDNA’ analyses seems unpromising. In 20 of 52 burials from Pro-
hear we sampled teeth for Strontium vs. Oxygen isotope analysis to
detect non-local individuals. At present, the analyses are in progress
by Mike Schweissing, Bavarian State Collection for Anthropology
and Palaeoanatomy in Munich. We hope for a solution for the riddle
of the cemetery of Prohear from his results.
fact, the most ‘golden’ looking ornaments from Prohear are not pure
gold, but electrum or silver with a rather low gold content.
By analyzing a great number of gold-silver offerings from differ-
ent graves at Prohear we want to find out not only the different com-
positions, but also which objects were made from native or inten-
tional alloys. Moreover, we hope for indications about how many
different metal sources left their ‘fingerprints’ on the alloys. It will
also be interesting if the analyses show that some inhumations were
equipped with gold-silver jewelry from the same source. This could
indicate that they were contemporaneous with one another as well as
86 Metal objects
contain the fingerprint
of its origin and fab-
rication. The secrets
of nearly 50 gold and
silver samples are
visualized by Sandra
Schlosser at the Curt-
Engelhorn-Centre
for Archaeometry in
Mannheim, Germany
(Photo: CEZ-Archae-
ometry)
ments (Au, Ag, Cu, Sn) about 25 trace elements were also analyzed
(ill. 86). The results of the first sample series of 30 objects are in many
respects surprising and promising. Thus far, all the analyzed samples
came from the smallest and least valuable gold-silver objects, like
fragments of small wire spirals rings from 16 different graves143.
By analyzing the gold-silver artifacts using a quadrupole ICP-MS
(X SeriesII, Thermo Electron Corporation) with collision cell tech-
nology144 and a scanning electron microscope (ZEISS EVO MA 25),
it was found that only 12 of all 30 objects contained more gold than
143 Burials 2 (2x), 3 silver. The preliminary results indicate interesting relations in space
(3x), 4 (5x), 8, 10, 12, and time between different burials, which we will formulate in detail
22 (4x), 24, 25 (2x), 26, after finishing all analyses.
27 (2x), 34, 35 (2x), 43,
*
44, 45, and one sample
of a stray find in Unit Until now, we knew of only a few comparable analyses of early gold
C. objects from Vietnam and Cambodia. These include an analyzed
144 For details sample of a gold bead from the looted Sa Huynh burial site of Go
about the methods, Mun in Quang Nam province of the same date as Prohear. The result
see S. Schlosser / R.
Kovacs / E. Pernicka / D.
shows that it was natural gold (94 percent), with a low silver content
Günther / M. Tellen- (5 percent) and less than one percent other elements. This gold most
bach 2009. likely came from a gold source in central Vietnam, a different source
Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress 113
than the gold from Prohear145. The low silver content suggests placer
gold.
From the cemetery Phum Snay, where about 50 inhumations
were discovered and dated from about 100 BC-AD 500, only two
gold earrings from burial 11/2007 were found. The analyses of the
Japanese team show a composition of 70 percent gold and 30 percent
silver without copper. Other trace elements were not mentioned.
The high gold content is similar to the richest gold objects from Pro-
hear. The gold earrings from Phum Snay were interpreted as having
“intentionally added silver to the gold” to produce a composition
with the “maximum strength” for gold-silver alloys146. Regarding our
results for Prohear, we cannot agree with this interpretation for the
145 A. Reinecke / Lê
gold objects from Phum Snay. That composition is more reminiscent Duy Sơn 2000, 17;
of the gold-silver objects in group 1 from Prohear, which we believe analyzed by Joachim
were made from natural electrum panned from rivers. The same Lutz, formerly at the
composition of both rings from Phum Snay points to electrum from TU Bergakademie
Freiberg.
one location. It is also hard to comprehend why gold-silver orna-
146 S. Hieda / H.
ments have to be produced with “maximum strength”147. Yoshimitsu / K. Shigeru
From the great gold collection of the Transbassac region in 2008, 141.
southern Vietnam, Louis Malleret published the results of samples 147 Pers. comm.
of two objects: an ingot of 7 grams and a wire fragment of 2.8 grams. Sandra Schlosser
(Mannheim) on 12th
Both are from silver-rich gold with noticeable copper content that August 2009.
suggests an intentional alloy148. 148 Silver 19.24 resp.
The largest series of gold analyses from Southeast Asia com- 10.26 percent, copper
prises about 100 samples of Javanese gold objects from the Hunter 5.36 resp. 1.20 percent;
see L. Malleret 1962,
Thompson collection and was conducted in the 1990s at the Rathgen
460. His comment
Research Laboratory in Berlin149. Although the origin and dating of on p. 8: “Il semble
the objects is still unclear, these objects are still of relevance to Pro- donc…que les orfèvres
hear. As J. Riederer noted, “… the very old objects in the collection… de l’époque aient su
incorporer au métal
are of a very low gold content, 20-30%” and “… the amount of gold in
précieux certaines
the Javanese alloys tends to decrease the older the alloys are”150. That quantités de cuivre
reminds us of the analyses of the objects from group 1 at Prohear, but pur et d’argent qui
this does not mean that Prohear’s gold came from Indonesia. This suffisaient à le rendre
statement points to the possibility that a high silver content in early résistant”.
149 J. Riederer 1994
gold objects could be a common feature in Southeast Asia! und 1999.
A recently published geological study lists 19 gold mines in Cam- 150 J. Riederer 1999,
bodia. The Sampeou Loon deposit is closest to Prohear. It is situated 67.
114 Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress
87 More illusion only 85 km to the northeast and is near the site of Memot in Kam-
than reality: Some pong Cham province (ill. 89)151. In March 2009 we visited Sampeou
‘golden’ objects from Loon. This gold deposit had been discovered by local farmers in 1985
Prohear like this small
and is now under the concession of a Chinese owned company, but
ring from burial 3,
clearly show under the
was closed down by the Cambodian government. The whole area is
microscope that a sil- perforated by 3-5 m deep holes, the remains of the gold rush that
ver core was covered ensued in 1992 and brought about 2000 gold miners to work in that
on the surface with area (S. Sotham 2004).
a precious gold foil Farther to the north, we know of gold deposits from Laos (Phu
with a high gold ratio Kham, approximately 100 km north-northeast of Vientiane), central
(Photo: S. Schlosser)
Vietnam north of Dac Lac province (e.g. Bong Mieu152) and to the
88 The silver
northwest in Thailand (Phichit province, about 45 km southeast of
core of a small spiral
ring from burial 4 was
Phichit).
wrapped with gold We also expect to find alluvial gold in rivers and in alluvial sedi-
foil. The red arrows ments of the Mekong Delta. Louis Malleret had already speculated
show the edges of the about gold-containing sands in the plains of Rach Gia, but could not
foil dressing (Photo: S. follow-up on this matter153. In Go De village in Long An province
Schlosser) in 2007, villagers reported that they had panned small gold frag-
ments from the sand (ill. 90). We suspected that they were panning
small gold foil fragments from looted or destroyed graves, because
many villagers in that area had found gold beads and other objects
in the soil. However, it cannot be excluded that in some areas placer
151 S. Sotham 2004. gold was actually found. Indeed, it seems hard to believe that gold
152 Nguyễn Nghiêm
Minh 2005, 111, 121.
panning at any time in this region could be so productive as to find
153 L. Malleret 1962, enough gold to produce jewelry like that found in Prohear or around
p. 5. Oc Eo (see Chapter 11.3 and 11.5).
Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress 115
89 The abandoned
gold mine of Sam-
peou Loon near
Memot in Kampong
Cham Province, Cam-
bodia in April 2009:
a – general view; b
– one hole dug (4-5 m
deep) in a perforated
area that in 1992 was
the focus of exploita-
tion by about 2000
villagers, local miners
and migrant workers;
c – entrance for deep
ore mining (12-20 m)
by a Chinese owned
company (Photos:
L./A. Reinecke)
burials157. We also know of sites from the same period that are much
richer in beads, such as Lai Nghi in central Vietnam that had more
than 10,000 beads in 63 burials. One burial alone (burial 27) had
more than 3000 beads made from glass or precious stones158. There
are also sites much poorer in beads, such as Go O Chua in southern
Vietnam, which had only about 50 beads in 62 burials. This may be
an indicator that most of the burials at Go O Chua are 100-200 years
older than the inhumations in Prohear.
157 Vũ Quốc
How common were glass ornaments? Hiền / Trương Đắc
During the last century BC beads were some of the most common Chiến / Lê Văn Chiến
objects found in burials. Alone, they do not demonstrate the wealth 2007, 32-36; 2008a, 35;
different total number
of a population, or a single individual. We have already discussed in 2008b, 40-41.
the problem of different funeral customs and the unknown ‘scale of 158 A. Reinecke
value’ (see Chapter 4). A pig tooth, as the last remains of an abundant 2009a, 46-48.
118 Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress
92 This clump of banquet for the journey to the other world, could have been much
soil was found beside more valuable than a few dozen glass beads. We are also reminded
the skull in burial 46, of the glass bead adhered to the bottom side of a smithing hearth
and includes some
(Chapter 5). This may indicate glass beads were scattered around
hundred blue glass
beads (Photo: A.
the Iron Age village, and were hardly noticed in everyday life. In
Reinecke) only six burials no glass beads were found. But these are all par-
93 Some of tially destroyed inhumations. A few more richly equipped burials
these small blue glass had more than 150 beads including graves 24, 33, 34, 46 (ill. 92).
beads (dia. 0.1-0.3 cm) The richest collection, more than 500 beads, was found in burial 46,
from burial 3 show together with three gold ornaments weighing a total of 21 grams (ill.
‘broken ends’ (Photo: 68:7 and 70).
A. Reinecke)
Eleven burials included fragments of glass earrings. Three graves
contained small remains of bracelets made from a deep-blue or light
blue glass. If we want to assume that large amounts of glass were an
expression of wealth, we must also consider grave 15 with 40 glass
earrings and grave 49 with 21 glass earrings (ill. 53). We think that
both burials belong to the older mortuary period I and phase IIa, in
which glass ear jewelry functioned as an antecedent to gold jewelry
during mortuary phase IIb.
96 By analyz-
ing glass and stone
jewelry from Pro-
hear, Alison K. Carter
(Madison) is hoping to
uncover information
on their origin, distri-
bution and manu-
facturing processes
(Photo: A.K. Carter)
… because they are small and easily transportable. At the same time,
they often carry evidence of how and sometimes when and where
they were made. This evidence can help archaeologists trace the
beads back to their original manufacturing locations and identify the
trade networks that moved them across the landscape. Additionally,
examining how ancient people used beads can tell us more about
how that society was organized. For example, different cultures
around the world have used beads to distinguish themselves from
other people, as a way to display wealth, as a currency, or in religious
ceremonies.
One of the primary ways to study beads is to understand how they
were made, because different cultures had different beadmaking tra-
ditions. For glass beads, we can distinguish different beadmaking tra-
ditions by understanding the recipe being used to make the glass.
During the Iron Age period there were several different glass recipes
in circulation that can generally be tied to different locations and time
Chapter 8: Analyses and their interpretations in progress 121
Certainly, the first glass was a precious curiosity for the inhabit-
ants of Prohear and many other pre-Funan people in the 4th/3rd cen-
turies BC161. How long did it take for local craftsmen to recognize
how it was made? Perhaps, only a short time!
99 The labora-
tory of the Memot
Centre in Phnom Penh
in 2008: Thanks to
the help of students
from the Faculty of
Archaeology and Fine
Arts of the Royal Uni-
versity of Fine Arts the
ceramic restoration of
Prohear ceramics has
a good start (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
ate new marks on the surface of the gold objects. Some gold orna-
ments with a high silver ratio have a black-grey silver oxide corro-
sion that is difficult to remove mechanically or with normal solvents.
100 Restoration
of metal objects starts
with examining the
surface under a micro-
scope (Photo: Seng
Sonetra)
Chapter 9: Have a look under a coating of rust 129
101 A shapeless
iron tool showed its
‘real character’ dur-
ing restoration and
revealed a sock-
eted axe (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
102 Two dif-
ferent iron bracelets
before (1-2) and after
restoration (3-4): 1/3
– from burial 2, 2/4
– from burial 7 (Pho-
tos: A. Reinecke)
Chapter 9: Have a look under a coating of rust 131
after reacting with oxygen and other soil conditions. After careful 103 Cleaning the
cleaning, glass fiber strips are used to strengthen and fixate the frag- iron objects carefully
ile pieces. The cleaned bronzes are then stabilized with Acryloid B using sandblasters is
the primary step in
72 and coated with mineral wax Cosmoloid H 80 diluted in a white
transforming a rusty
spirit, to maintain and to protect the artifact from direct contact with
lump to a beautiful
the environment. exhibition object
The treatment of an iron object is more laborious but produces (Photo: A. Reinecke)
terrific surprises, because most of the iron offerings from Prohear
are hidden under a thick rust coating. This coating is so thick that
the excavators could barely distinguish an iron tool from a bangle.
Sometimes during cleaning and restoration, an ‘iron tool’ is revealed
to be two objects that were attached to one another (ill. 101). We were
deeply impressed by the variety of iron bracelets that would have been
absolutely unrecognizable without restoration. Or in other words,
much valuable information about these important items would be
132 Chapter 9: Have a look under a coating of rust
lost forever without careful restoration (ill. 102). To remove the rust
coating and to clean the iron object, abrasion machines and sand-
blasters are available (ill. 103). After cleaning, the iron objects were
also stabilized with Acryloid B 72 and protected with mineral wax
Cosmoloid H 80 diluted with a solvent (white spirit). The restored
bronze and iron objects are safely stored in an airtight container
with a soft bed and a bag of silica gel to prevent further corrosion
caused by the hot air and high humidity outside. We have to check
the restored items regularly to look for signs of new corrosion.
For advice on this subject we are grateful to our colleagues from
the Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums (RGZM) in Mainz/
Germany, Markus Egg, Uwe Herz and all the specialists who gave
training and help to facilitate the restoration work. We are also thank-
ful for Matthias Heinzel, who spent his time in Cambodia installing
all the equipment in the laboratory and giving extra training and
advice in both the field and in the lab.
133
Prohear was a secluded, unknown village. This has changed. No, not
by our excavation campaigns in the last two years, but by the newly
built asphalt road that crosses Cambodia in a west-east direction,
and since 2009 has connected Prohear with the outside world.
It is very likely that during the last two years more Western for-
eigners visited Prohear than during the 100 years before. The villag-
ers were good hosts for our team. This was not expected at the begin-
ning of the excavations, as there were some dramatic prejudices on
both sides before the first get-together. The villagers believed that
“Foreigners want to take away all our valuable things!” For the for-
eigners, we wondered, “How can we organize an excavation in the
midst of looters and return home unscathed?” The slogan: “Yes, we
can!” emboldened us to give it a try.
As strangers and guests, we have gained experience being sur-
rounded by ‘digging experts’. During our stay there were no frosty
relationships in the village, but animated conversation and an oppor-
tunity to get to know one another. The villagers had free time, because
our excavations took place at the end of the dry season, during which
time almost everyone was resting before the imminent tillage of their
fields. They were playing cards under the shade of their stilt houses,
renewing their roofs, working in their gardens, or taking their water
buffaloes to the field. Sometimes they organized cockfights for about
100 spectators only 30 meters away from our ‘Unit D’. However,
everyday many villagers curiously watched what was happening in
the middle of their main road (ill. 104-107).
During the first week, the onlookers were bored and commented
about the extremely slow progress of our excavation. In contrast,
they had dug out many thousands of square meters with innumer-
able burials in only a few months, and made a bigger haul than our
long shot ‘brushing-team’. However, after a few weeks of the excava-
tion many villagers began to recognize that it was not the ‘amount
per time’ that was important for the ‘strangers’. Out of pity, they now
began to observe the events on the road.
134 Chapter 10: Strangers in Prohear
104 The future
of Prohear (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
105 Making a
roof from palm leaves
during the dry period,
in which villagers take
rest from field work
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
106 The excava-
tion is under con-
tinuous observation
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
107 Cockfight:
Seen as a carving at
the Bayon temple in
Angkor and in Prohear
in action (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
Chapter 10: Strangers in Prohear 135
108 H.E. German
Ambassador Markus
F. Mann and his wife
visiting Prohear,
May 2008 (Photo: L.
Reinecke)
109 Burials are on
‘XXL-camera’ (Photo: L.
Reinecke)
136 Chapter 10: Strangers in Prohear
It was a great pleasure for us that in May 2008, during our first
excavation season, the German Ambassador Frank M. Mann together
with his wife came from Phnom Penh to honor our excavation with
a visit. This visit was surely a high point in the village’s unwritten
chronicle, as our presence had already become an everyday occur-
rence (ill. 108).
At the beginning of the next campaign in February 2009, the
uniqueness of this site and of the excavation was already becoming
well known. In the beginning of March 2009 we were joined by a
film team from the “Deutsche Welle” channel under the direction
of Jörg Seibold. They filmed at the Memot Centre in Phnom Penh,
at the gold mine of Sampeou Loon about three hours by car north-
east from Prohear, and of course at the excavation site in Prohear. In
four days shooting, eight tapes were produced, which were then cut
down to nine broadcasting minutes and combined with shots from
the German-Cambodian restoration project in Angkor. For authen-
tic ambience in the village, living pigs were set in motion in front of
the ‘XXL-camera’ of Thomas Koppehele, water buffaloes were moved
about the scenery, and the village musician, Kong Quern, took out
110 Scene-
change: Drawing
attention to res-
toration work in
the Memot Centre,
Phnom Penh (Photo: L.
Reinecke)
Chapter 10: Strangers in Prohear 137
111 German delega-
tion visiting Unit D in
Prohear, March 2009
(Photo: L. Reinecke)
113 The excava-
tion team together
with visitors (Photo: L.
Reinecke)
114 Discussing
finds and restoration
work with German
visitors in the Memot
Centre (Photo: L.
Reinecke)
139
Chapter 11:
Prohear’s contacts more than 2000 years ago
At present, the cemetery in Prohear is one of the richest prehistoric
sites in Southeast Asia. Due to the increased research and fieldwork
activities that have taken place over the last 15 years, we have new
information on other Bronze/Iron Age burial sites. In the last two
chapters, we want to go further into questions regarding the common
traditions and relationships that these sites had with one another
during the last millennium BC. Were there overwhelming cultural
differences or were commonalities more prevalent despite gaps in
time and space? What role did Prohear play in these Iron Age inter-
action networks? Does Prohear’s great number of exotic gold-silver
ornaments and unique bronze items point more towards successful
trade, or do we have to interpret them as the result of immigration?
The burial site of Village 10.8, situated about 60 km northeast 115 Burial site of Go
from Prohear, near Memot in Kampong Cham province, was exca- O Chua in Long An
province: Vietnamese-
vated during seven campaigns from 2002 to 2008, but is not yet pub-
German excavation on
lished (ill. 116). The first radiocarbon dates indicate that Village 10.8
the Southern hillock
belongs to the time from the 4th to 1st century BC183. About 50 burials in 2005 (Photo: A.
were discovered and their offerings were richer than their contempo- Reinecke)
raries at Go O Chua, but more poor than at Prohear. Gold and silver
objects were not found and bronze objects, like bracelets, are rare.
The ‘big wave’ of glass or precious stone beads had still not arrived in
southeast Cambodia. Therefore, the main funeral activities in Village
10.8 might be earlier than at Prohear. However, there could be some 183 S. Soubert / G.
overlap into the beginning of mortuary period IIa of Prohear, for Albrecht 2006.
142 Chapter 11: Prohear’s contacts more than 2000 years ago
116 Burial site which we assume dates to the end of the 2nd century BC (see Chapter
Village 10.8 in Kam- 3). The most interesting features from Village 10.8 are many types of
pong Cham province:
implements and bracelets from iron. A unique bronze disc (diam.
Cambodian-German
15.1 cm) from Village 10.8 is relevant in view of the non-local bronze
excavation in 2005
(Photo: A. Reinecke) objects from Prohear, and especially to a similar bronze disc (diam.
13.2 cm) on the face of a child in burial 47 (Chapter 7.6). At first, we
thought that the bronze object from Village 10.8, with three concen-
tric rings around the central cone, could be a mirror (ill. 117). How-
ever, the conical knob in the center does not have a hole that could
be used to hold the mirror by looping a cord through it, and on the
other side is a small dent in the center. A second consideration was
that it was a very shallow bronze bowl with a low rim of only 1-2 cm.
Chapter 11: Prohear’s contacts more than 2000 years ago 143
117 Shallow bronze
bowl or decorative
disc with cone from
Village 10.8, diam.
15.1 cm (Photo: Seng
Sonetra)
118 Excava-
tion at the burial site
of Vat Komnou in
Takeo province by a
Cambodian-American
team (LOMAP) in 1999
(Photo: M.T. Stark)
There are also seven burials at Village 10.8 for which it is assumed 119 Chronologi-
that the head is to the northeast. If we take a closer look at these cal overview about
recently discovered
inhumations then doubts arise. Distinct head ornaments were not
burial sites of the
found, which would help determine the body orientation. Therefore,
Pre-Funan and Funan
these people may have also been buried with their head to the south- culture (Drawing: A.
west with more divergence of some burials (e.g. 24 and 25) to the Reinecke)
west than some burials of mortuary period II at Prohear. Thus in
southern Cambodia and Vietnam at the end of the 3rd/2nd century
BC we can see a common trend in head orientation to the south,
with some divergences to S-SW or S-SE. This new custom may have
been caused by a cultural push from the outside perhaps due to an
immigration of new people into the area. It appears that this process
began earlier at Go O Chua than at Prohear, where we assume a date
for this change at the end of the 2nd century BC.
This corresponds with the early phase of burials at the site of Vat
Komnou at Angkor Borei, in Takeo province (ill. 118). More than 50
graves were excavated in 1999-2000 and belong to the period from the
146 Chapter 11: Prohear’s contacts more than 2000 years ago
2nd century BC to the 4th century AD (ill. 119)189. Although more than
half of the burials were incomplete or indeterminate, most inhuma-
tions were buried with the head to south, southeast or southwest, cor-
189 M.T. Stark 2001,
28.
responding perfectly with Go O Chua (southeast), Village 10.8 (south-
190 Pers. comm. east and maybe southwest) and Prohear period II (south-southwest).
Miriam T. Stark at 26th Furthermore, there are some burials at Vat Komnou with the head to
November 2008. the north or northeast190, which may belong to another period.
191 K. Phon 2009, 4.
The next early Iron Age cemetery, Phnom Borei, is situated about
192 For the early
phase of the burial site 6 km to the south of Vat Komnou. A small-scale excavation in 2004
of Phum Snay different provided nine burials dating from the 1st century BC, which relate to
dates are published. The mortuary period II from Prohear. We were not surprised to find all
most early radiocarbon the inhumations have the same head orientation to the southeast191.
date is mentioned as
348-307 BC for a burial
The last example for Cambodia that we want to take into account
excavated in 2001 is the burial site of Phum Snay, dated to the period from about 100
(K.M. Domett / D.J.W. BC to AD 500192. It is noteworthy, that so far this is the latest evi-
O’Reilly 2009, 56). Yet dence for inhumations dating to the 5th century AD in northwest
published documenta-
Cambodia. This has been confirmed by sufficient radiocarbon
tions and known finds,
esp. the ceramics, speak dates193, unlike at other burial sites that are also seen as late, but are
for a beginning at not amply substantiated by enough dates (Phum Krasang Thmei194
Phum Snay not before or Prey Khmeng195).
100 BC. There were many offerings found at Phum Snay, from which the
193 Alone from the
excavation in 2007,
wealth of beads is most impressive. In some graves thousands of
ten radiocarbon dates beads were discovered, but at the whole site only two electrum ear-
from different burials rings. This is in clear contrast to the amount of the precious metal
and cultural layers are objects found in burials at Prohear. Actually, except for some utili-
available from Phum
tarian bead types or iron tools, there are few similarities with earlier
Snay.
194 Phum Krasang cemeteries like Go O Chua, Village 10.8 or Prohear196. Even so, ‘buf-
Thmei was set in the falo bracelets’ (see Chapter 7.4) from looted graves in Phum Snay are
period from 1st century a probable indication that the cemetery’s beginning overlaps with
BC to 4th century AD,
mortuary phase IIb from Prohear (about 100/50 BC-AD 100).
but this based on two
radiocarbon dates (51 Based on ceramic parallels, Y. Miyatsuka stressed influence from
cal. BC – cal. AD 128 Yunnan in southern China, which might have arrived in Phum Snay
and cal. AD 137-341) around the 4th/5th century AD197. Additionally, the lead isotopic char-
from bone samples acteristics of most of the analyzed bronze artifacts from Phum Snay
from that we do not
know their collagen
are similar to bronze objects from Thailand. Both groups should
status (S.K. Sovannara share characteristics of bronzes that were produced in the Huanan
2008, 108). region (Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan) in China. By contrast,
Chapter 11: Prohear’s contacts more than 2000 years ago 147
I drum of the Dong Son variant, but more cannot be specified (ill.
67).
E. Nitta interpreted the distribution of bronze drums along the
Mekong as “status markers and prestige goods buried with groups
in control of early exchange networks”, because the drums seemed
to relate to “strategic points along the river where geographic fea-
tures (rapids, waterfalls, river mouths) interrupt river transport”218.
214 Phạm Minh
What does “strategic points” mean. Are they traffic junctions, con-
Huyền 2005; Phạm
Đức Mạnh 2005, 45-47. trol stations, fords, boat landings, or points for trade or conflicts?
215 A.J. Bernet Kem- In any case, one would expect not only an isolated bronze drum at
pers 1988; M. Jirawat- such places, but many remains from busy life and umpteen dead on
tana 2003; Nguyễn settlements or cemeteries. Perhaps the bronze drums at these sites
Văn Huyên / Hoàng
Vinh / Phạm Minh
had another meaning than as “buried prestige goods”. Prohear or Bit
Huyền / Trịnh Sinh Meas do not fit in this hypothesis of “strategic points along the river”.
1989; S. Hirayama We will see a little bit later what is behind all this …
2006; M. Nishimura
2008; A. Calò 2009.
216 E. Nitta 2005.
217 Bui Chi Hoang 3 Prohear’s competition:
2008.
218 E. Nitta 2005,
the gold treasures from the Transbassac region
125. Some of the almost 100 gold-silver objects from the excavation in
219 The Bassac is the
southernmost estuary
Prohear are similar to the Transbassac collection published by Louis
of the Mekong and Malleret, a French archaeologist, who bought this rich collection in
at present called by different villages in the southernmost provinces of Vietnam between
the Vietnamese Song 1942 and 1945219. There are several analogies with Prohear, includ-
Hau. Currently, the
ing small earrings with a thickened central section220 or the small
Transbassac includes
the six southernmost segmented split ring from burial 14 (ill. 68:4)221. Similarities between
provinces in Vietnam. Prohear and Oc Eo sites could mean that some objects in the Trans-
Certainly, An Giang bassac collection are earlier than assumed, and were made and bur-
province with the
ied at the latest during the 1st century AD. Otherwise it is certainly
famous trade center Oc
Eo, also belongs in this possible that goldsmiths made the same types of jewelry over many
region. generations, because these products did not fall out of fashion.
220 L. Malleret 1962, It is not known if the objects from the Oc Eo area were found in
pl. V, no 831. burials or in another context. Only a few burials are known from
221 Ibidem, pl.
XXXV-XXXVI.
this region, such as a jar burial from the Oc Eo site that belongs to
222 P.-Y. Manguin the 1st to the 3rd century AD and contained gold foil and carnelian
2004, 291, 293. beads222. Malleret reports in his major publication about the Funan
Chapter 11: Prohear’s contacts more than 2000 years ago 151
120 Gold mask
(length 9.7 cm) exca-
vated at the burial site
of Giong Lon in Ba
Ria-Vung Tau province
in southern Vietnam
(Photo courtesy
National Museum of
Vietnamese History,
Hanoi)
tuous jewelry collection, that the site had sparse iron and bronze 231 Vũ Quốc
offerings. Only 22 iron weapons or tools and a single bronze Wuzhu Hiền / Trương Đắc
Chiến / Lê Văn Chiến
coin were found together with one of the three gold masks in a grave
2008a, 34-38; Vũ Quốc
uniquely equipped with a sword. Wuzhu coins were introduced by Hiền / Lê Văn Chiến
the Emperor Wudi (141-87 BC) during the Western Han period, and 2007, 32-38.
cast after 118 BC. A radiocarbon date and some ceramic types sup- 232 A. Reinecke /
port the dating of the gold masks and of the majority of all finds to Nguyen Thi Thanh
Luyen 2009.
the heyday of Prohear (100/50 BC-AD 100)232. The physiognomy of 233 The dating and
the masks is clearly related to an image of a face on a one centimeter site of the tube ring
long gold tube ring that was very likely discovered in the Transbassac are unclear. Most
area233. Early gold masks from Java and Sulawesi show a distinctly likely it belongs to a
southern Vietnamese
different style and do not have a definite date, but we cannot yet rule
complex from the 1st to
out that they belong to this same tradition234. 3rd century AD. See L.
Malleret 1962, 23-24,
The ribbed gold earrings 120-121, pl. XIII.
234 J.N. Miksic 1990,
We should also discuss the ribbed earring from burial 46 in Pro-
55-57.
hear. The first four gold earrings of this type were found in 2002 235 A. Reinecke
at the Sa Huynh site of Lai Nghi (ill. 121)235. Six smaller specimens 2009a, 27.
were also discovered within two burials at the cemetery of Giong 236 A. Reinecke /
Lon236. In 2007, archaeologists from the Memot Centre in Phnom Nguyen Thi Thanh
Luyen 2009, 63; Vũ
Penh recovered a pair of these earrings from looted burials at Bit Quốc Hiền / Trương
Meas (ill. 11). All of these earrings are smaller and lighter than that Đắc Chiến / Lê Văn
item from burial 46. Similar earrings of a heavier variant are known Chiến 2008a, 24, 37.
154 Chapter 11: Prohear’s contacts more than 2000 years ago
121 Four gold
earrings, amongst
beads made from
glass, carnelian, agate,
and gold are offer-
ings from jar burial 7
of Lai Nghi in Quang
Nam province, Central
Vietnam (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
from the north coast of central Java, however their context and dat-
ing is not known237. Comparable earrings are also found in burials
from Western Asia and Europe, although it is unlikely that such a
widespread earring type shows a long-distance relationship in every
case. However, within Southeast Asia the presence of the same ear-
ring type at four different contemporary cemeteries is hardly pure
chance. Especially the more so as Lai Nghi and Giong Lon were very
likely situated near important South China Sea trade ports.
in Cambodia in the 16th century, gold and silver was imported and
not locally produced.
found at the Lijiashan burial site, but their decoration is also not
comparable with the drum motifs from Prohear.
However, it would not be surprising if the sources of the metal
ingots or finished products were found to be in southern China.
Especially as we already have looked north to find parallels with
both the bronze drum burial at the site of Kele in Guizhou province,
and for the primary distribution area of Dong Son bronze drums in
northern Vietnam.
shipped from India or other far distant places, and for an itinerant
Indian craftsman it would be a shame and time to go home.
the direction from which the ‘first wave’ of foreign influence came?
Miriam T. Stark received the same impression based on the ceramics
found at Angkor Borei. She argues that the Mekong Delta polities
were focused more southwards toward the South China Sea network
until around 400 AD287. This seems neither astonishing nor illogical,
however, there are still huge gaps to the north and northwest as cem-
eteries or prehistoric sites from this same period have not yet been
discovered. From Prohear, Angkor Borei, or Village 10.8 there is a
broad jump of about 300 km, to the cemeteries in northwest Cambo-
dia (Phum Snay, Prey Khmeng, Phum Krasang Thmei). These sites
all have their main mortuary phases later then the sites in the south.
Besides, the ceramic complexes from these sites have not been well
published yet, thus we are not able to properly compare them with
the ceramics found in the south.
The southern influence seems to weaken at about 100 BC, and is
later clearly obscured by the stronger relationship with sites to the
north. We must remember the ‘buffalo bracelets’ which provide strik-
ing evidence for the relationship between mortuary phase IIb at Pro-
hear and the finds of the 1st century BC/1st century AD at Phum Snay
(see Chapter 7.4). We also argue that all bronze objects came from
the north, not just the drums, bell, and bowl, but also the bracelets,
earrings, and other bronze items. We have already explained why we
think that iron came as ingots from the north to the blacksmiths in
Prohear (see Chapter 5). We also discussed that some of the objects
that may have originated in the north, such as the bronze drums and
ribbed gold earrings, traveled to Prohear by the Vam Co Tay River
from the bay of Vung Tau (see Chapter 11.5). However, this must be
proven with more evidence!
many owing to the loss of ground and positions, a radical break from
tradition, and invasion by Han Chinese settlers. Opponents of the
Chinese and their elite collaborators were killed293. Those who chose
to escape had few choices but to move south, along an established
route through Laos or northern Vietnam to Cambodia294. We can
guess that this re-location to the south was a process over a number
of generations and from different areas. This may explain how more
and more finds were spread across Southeast Asia during the 2nd/1st
century BC, with an intensity that no one foresaw ten years ago295.
Now we are confronted with foreign objects, such as at Prohear,
where they are mixed with local artifacts.
122 Armored horse-
man in a battle scene
on top of cowrie
container in the
shape of a classical
Heger-I bronze drum,
excavated in burial
M6 of Shizhaishan
site in 1956, about 3rd
century BC (Photo: A.
Reinecke)
302 G. Coedès 1966, Perhaps they were also connected to people at other undiscovered
60; 1968, 36-37. The port and trade sites near the ‘gold-mask-site’ of Giong Lon in the bay
information of G. of Vung Tau. Were the elites from the north welcomed in the south
Coedès, the distance
between Oc Eo and Ba
as advisors on foreign policy, strategy, or weaponry? Was the ‘long
Phnom is 200 km or forest’ of Prey Veng at that time not a jungle, but the surroundings
120 miles and would of a political center and a magnet for people such as foreign elites?
therefore correspond A place where refugees could ask for protection and a new future?
to the 500 li men-
A ‘Yue-Village’ within ‘eyeshot’ of Funan-City? You may think there
tioned in the Chinese
records, has apparently are too many questions without any answers! A framework for these
contributed to much puzzling questions is discussed below. First we should mention that
confusion. Actually, while our eyes are mainly directed to the north, we do not forget indi-
the distance is about cations for relationships with the gold-rich areas of Indonesia or even
115 km. This is not a
disproof of G. Coedès’
to Bactria in Western Asia (Chapter 11.5). On the one hand these are
thesis, that the early mostly vague clues, but on the other hand it seems very logical that
capital of Funan should an immigrated elite got their jewelry and exotic goods from different
be sougth at the foot of places. However, we cannot exclude that the Yelang and Dian people
Ba Phnom, but more
get ideas or goods from Bactria via the overland route through north-
an argument against
the consensus opinion ern India before some refugees headed to their exile in the south.
that Oc Eo would be
the historical starting Where was the capital and ‘main port’ of Funan?
point for the Chinese Let’s return to the unanswered questions. If we bring back, after half
observations. This is
an absolutely unproved
a century, the unfashionable theory of the French scholar George
thesis. Coedès, then we would have to locate the capital of the early Funan
303 H. Loofs-Wissowa polity, the legendary ‘Temu’, near the mountain of Ba Phnom in Prey
1991: “We might thus Veng province302. Now, suddenly the richness and the many myste-
imagine the coming
rious artifacts from Bit Meas and Prohear get a striking historical
and going of embassies
or missions from tribal background. The presence of these unusual finds is explained because
chiefs in various parts both sites are situated only 30-35 km northeast from Ba Phnom. With
of Southeast Asia who Coedès’ thesis as a backdrop, the large number of bronze drums from
through the obtaining
Prohear and probably from Bit Meas makes sense, because we agree
of a drum would seek
to become kings in the with H. Loofs-Wissowa’s interpretation of bronze drums as ‘symbols
then accepted sense of power’ or ‘regalia of local chiefs’303.
of the term and thus The excavation at Oc Eo in 1944, and the concentration of archae-
be integrated into a ological research over many years at Angkor Borei, contributes excit-
wider politico-religious
system….” or “… the
ing new facts to the historical relevance of both these sites. Undoubt-
drums were the regalia edly, Oc Eo was a center of workshops and long distance trade with
of local chiefs the west. Nevertheless, for 60 years it has remained a part of scholarly
Chapter 12: Prohear’s historical background 171
opinion that it was the ‘major port of Funan’, without critical distance who asked for these
to the scattered discoveries in many southern Vietnamese provinces … to become part of a
over almost 500-700 years, and their classification under the label network of polities…”
(1991, 47). Therefore,
‘Oc Eo’. How much of this large collection is really from Oc Eo before we reject firmly the
the 3rd century AD, and why do we have only such a small number of interpretation that
finds with Chinese origin? bronze drums are
Very likely, Oc Eo was never situated directly at the coast of the normal ‘trade-goods’
as this does not match
bay of Rach Gia, and it remains to be seen if there was at any time a
with the records (see
port by which the Chinese envoys could enter the Funan polity. It is chapter 7.2).
also curious that there are no records mentioning a port in the bay 304 M. Vickery 2004,
of Rach Gia, during or after Funan. Therefore, the distance of 500 131.
li or 200 km from the sea to the capital of Funan, as estimated by 305 “Since the lenght
of a li varied with time,
Chinese envoys, recorded in the 6th century, and compiled in the 7th estimating the distance
century304, cannot be seen from Oc Eo site. In view of such inconsis- is not easy but the
tencies we also have to challenge the interpretation of Angkor Borei actual capital was prob-
as the first capital of the Funan polity. ably the site of Angkor
Borei” (C. Higham
So far the puzzle of the early Funan polity as composed from
2001, 25).
archaeological data does not match the Chinese records. These dis- 306 After A. Schinz
crepancies are not new. Charles W. Higham is correct in stating that 1996, 421: between
the ‘Chinese mile’, the li, changed over time. He is careful with his 369-532 meters.
interpretation of Angkor Borei, noting that in that era the distance of 307 Even if we would
accept that a ‘major
the li varied more than before305. However, even if we use the li with port’ was located near
the shortest of all distances found in the historical records from the Oc Eo, it seems very
time in question, then we have a minimum distance of 184 km from normal that a large
the port to the capital306. This does not correspond with the 83 km polity like Funan had
more than one trade
from Oc Eo to Angkor Borei307.
center near the coast.
P. Pelliot suggested the
In conclusion mouth of the Mekong
The distance is only one example of how problematic the popular as a gateway for the
Chinese envoys (1903,
archaeological interpretation about Oc Eo and Angkor Borei actu-
262-263). From here, as
ally is, as it does not convincingly match the historical context. But well as from the mouth
this whole bundle of problems is another exciting story that goes far of the Vam Co Tay
beyond our intention in this book about Prohear. For that, historical River or from a port
records and archaeological artifacts must undergo a broad re-exam- in Vung Tau bay near
the site with the gold
ination. masks, the travelers
In spite of the wealth found in the burials at Prohear we are care- have direct access to
ful with superlatives for this site in view of so many new archaeo- water routes, that did
172 Chapter 12: Prohear’s historical background
123 Prey Veng
in the golden luster
of the evening sun
(Photo: A. Reinecke)
173
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Beck, Horace C. nasi.
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India No. 65. Calcutta. Miriam T.
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1633/2006 An Account of Cochinchina:
Bellina, Bérénice / Glover, Ian Dror, Olga / Taylor, Keith W. (eds.), Views of Sev-
2004 The archaeology of early contact with enteenth-Century Vietnam: Christoforo Borri
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Glover, Ian / Bellwood, Peter (eds.), Southeast
Asia: From Prehistory to History. London – New Bronson, Bennett
York, 68-88. 1992 Patterns in the Early Southeast Asian
Metals Trade: Glover, Ian / Suchitta, Porchai / Vil-
Bellina, Bérénice / Silapanth, Praon liers, John (eds.), Early Metallurgy, Trade and
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174 References
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Index
Bit Meas, Prey Veng province, southeastern inhumation 45, 50, 58, 59, 95, 139-140, 139-
Cambodia 19, 20-21, 24, 149, 152-153, 155, 147, 152, 165
169-170 jar burial 39, 43, 49-50, 59, 95, 101, 109, 124,
name of the village 19 125, 139-140, 150, 152, 160
blacksmith 63-65, 166 mat wrapping 45-46, 47, 140, 165
boar see animal wooden coffin 45-46
Bong Mieu, Quang Nam province, central Viet- burial head orientation 140-147, 165
nam 114 Ban Lum Khao 144
bronze object 127, 129, 139, 141, 146-147, 165 Dong Son 40
bell 41-42, 51, 53, 75, 95, 96, 109, 149, 165- Go O Chua 140, 144, 146
166 Go Thap 147
bracelet 43, 51-52, 54, 58, 67, 76, 78, 101, Koh Ta Meas 140
124, 125, 141, 148, 166 Village 10.8 144-146
bowl 26, 41-42, 53, 68, 75, 88, 92, 93, 94-95, Phnom Borei 146
97, 100, 109, 142, 143, 147-148, 165-166 Phum Snay 147
buffalo bracelet 41, 51, 55, 63, 75, 77-78, 86, Prey Khmeng 147
89, 90-91, 146, 148, 166-167 Prohear 39-40, 42, 45, 54-55, 59, 101, 109,
disc 42, 51, 53, 94, 95, 97, 109, 142, 143, 144, 144-147
147-148, 165, 167 Vat Komnou 146
drum 24, 38, 41-42, 45-46, 47, 54, 56, 59, 67, Cai Lang, Dong Nai province, southern Viet-
75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82-83, 84, 94, 100, 109, nam 69
147-150, 155-156, 158, 165-168, 170 Cai Van, Dong Nai province, southern Viet-
earring 75, 166 nam 69
finger ring 90, 91, 148 carnelian
helmet 13, 90 bead see beads, carnelian
jewelry 75 deposit see deposit
lance 26 bracelet 152
rattle 92 earring 160
situla 94 raw material 159
weapon 54 ceramic 44, 74
bronze smelting / casting 67-72, 83-84 anvil 66
mold 67-68, 69, 83 bead see beads, clay
buffalo see animal basin-shaped pot with wide-opened
buffalo bracelet see bronze / iron mouth 54, 74
Bung Bac, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, southern circular cord-marked pot 48, 54, 73
Vietnam 69 epaulette 13, 90, 92, 147
burial custom 139-147 goblet 46, 73-74, 86
cremation 74, 140, 147 high pedestalled bowl 26, 39, 43, 44, 74
‘ghost hole’ 74, 75, 78 high pot with funnel-shaped rim 39, 43, 44,
74
Index 191
large jars with a globular body and narrow Dian (Lake Dian), Yunnan province, southern
mouth 54 China 167
molds see bronze smelting / casting Dian culture 13, 149, 155, 167-168, 169, 170
round chipped sherd 67 Doc Chua, Binh Duong province, southern
shallow bowls with a low foot 46, 54, 73 Vietnam 62, 69
small bottle with a globular body 42-43, 44, Dongguolin deposit, Yunnan province, southern
54, 73 China 115
spindle whorl 51-52, 54, 61, 62, 63, 78, 94, Dong Hoa, Thanh Hoa province, northern Viet-
100 nam 81
storage jar 74 Dong Son, Thanh Hoa province, northern Viet-
ceramic production 66-67 nam 40, 94, 148
ceramic ware 73 Dong Son culture 13, 46, 75, 149, 167
burnished earthenware 43 Dong Xa, Hung Yen province, northern Viet-
fine orangeware 12, 41, 74, 75, 78 nam 46
Champa 157 Do Son, Hai Phong province, northern Viet-
chicken see animal nam 92
Cochinchina 157 drum see bronze drum
Coedès, George (1886-1969) 170 earring see bronze, gold and silver or glass
coins (Wuzhu) 153 electrum deposit see deposit
Con Dai, Thua Thien-Hue province, central elephant see animal
Vietnam 161, 163 epaulette see ceramic
Con Rang, Thua Thien-Hue province, central ethnic minorities
Vietnam 161, 163 Jarai (Giaraïe) 66
copper-tin deposit see deposit Kuy 66
crocodile see animal Sedang (Cédan) 66
Daping deposit, Yunnan province, southern Stieng (Stiên) 27, 57, 66
China 115 fish see animal
dating 145 Funan and Funan culture 13, 150-151, 156, 168,
see also Prohear, dating 170-171
Dau Giay, Dong Nai province, southern Viet- Gandhara, Pakistan 163
nam 71 Gaolong deposit, Guangxi province, southern
deposit China 115
agate 163 garnet bead see beads, garnet
carnelian 163 garnet deposit see deposit
copper 68, 156 Georgia 98, 158
electrum 113, 155, 166 Getang deposit, Guizhou province, southern
garnet 162 China 115
gold / silver 113-114, 115, 154-158, 166 Giao Chi 169
iron 65-66 Giong Ca Vo, Ho Chi Minh City area, southern
tin 68, 156 Vietnam 71, 121, 123, 152, 160, 163
192 Index
Giong Lon, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, southern Go Mun, Quang Nam province, central Viet-
Vietnam 13, 116, 152, 153, 154-155, 160, nam 89, 112
163, 170 Go O Chua, Long An province, southern Viet-
Giong Noi, Ben Tre province, southern Viet- nam 13, 39-40, 42-43, 44, 48-50, 59, 63, 64-
nam 71 65, 66, 67, 69, 70-71, 73, 75, 89, 107-109, 117,
Giong Phet, Ho Chi Minh City area, southern 125, 126, 140, 141, 144, 145, 146-147, 152,
Vietnam 71 162-163, 165
glass making 119-123 Go Thap, Dong Thap province, southern Viet-
local handicraft 123-124 nam 61, 65, 124, 140, 147, 151
substitute for fakes 123 Hang Gon, Dong Nai province, southern Viet-
glass object nam 71
bead see beads, glass Heger, Franz (1853-1931) 79
bracelet 118, 122 Hepu, Guangxi province, southern China 163
earring 54, 58, 59, 75, 118, 123-124 Hoa Diem, Khanh Hoa province, central Viet-
Go Cam, Quang Nam province, central Viet- nam 163
nam 124 horse and horseman 87, 168, 169
Go De, Long An province, southern Viet- immigration 40, 107, 139, 145, 165
nam 114, 116 imported object / product 59, 73, 75, 101, 142,
gold / silver object 78, 84, 85, 118, 127, 129, 139, 151, 156-159, 163, 165-166
141, 150-152, 155, 165 India 158-161, 163-164, 167-168, 170
beads see beads, gold Indonesia 84, 113, 157-158, 170
bracelet 51-52, 56, 75, 78, 84, 86, 152, 156 iron deposit see deposit
coin 152, 157 iron object 25, 54, 58, 78, 127, 130, 131, 139,
earcoil 152 142, 146, 153
earring 21, 78, 84, 85, 86, 101, 113, 146, arrowhead 109
152-155, 158, 166 bracelet 25, 51, 54, 64, 75, 76, 92, 130
finger ring 21, 49, 51-52, 75, 78, 84, 85, 87- buffalo bracelet 41, 63, 66, 89, 148
88, 94, 151-152, 156, 168 dagger 52, 64
foil 150, 152 ingot 65, 166
foil tube 86, 87-89, 92, 101 knife 64
hair ornament 78, 84, 85 slag 61, 63, 64
ingot 151 socketed axe 52, 64, 67, 130
leaf 152 sword 52, 76, 86, 95, 153
mask 13, 152, 153, 170-171 weapon 52, 75-76, 153
plaque 151, 152 iron ore 65-66
tube ring 153 iron smelting 65, 124
gold / silver analysis 109-111, 112, 113, 114- iron smithing 63-65, 71, 123-124
115, 157 iron smithing hearth 64-65
gold / silver deposit see deposit jade and nephrite 57, 123, 152, 160
goldsmith 85-86, 111, 150-151, 157-158 Janse, Olov R.T. (1895-1985) 40, 94
Index 193
Jaque, Christoval de (~1540-~1610) 157 Malleret, Louis (1901-1970) 92, 113-114, 150-
Jarai (Giaraïe) see ethnic miniorities 154, 158
Java 113, 153-154, 158, 163 Manila 157
Jinchang deposit, Yunnan province, southern Mouhot, Henri (1826-1861) 27-28, 57
China 115 My Nghia, Tien Giang province, southern Viet-
Jinfeng (Lannigou) deposit, Guizhou province, nam 71
southern China 115 Nanyue 167, 169
Jinsha, Sichuan province, China 155 nephrite see jade
Jinya deposit, Guangxi province, southern Noen U-Loke, Nakhon Ratchasima province in
China 115 northeastern Thailand 48-49, 52, 65, 66, 90,
Kele, Guizhou province, southern China 46-47, 152, 159, 162
144, 148, 156, 166-167 Non Muang Kao, Nakhon Ratchasima province
Khao Sam Kaeo, Chumphon province, Thai- in northeastern Thailand 159, 162
Malay Peninsula, Thailand 63, 122, 159 Oc Eo, An Giang province, southern Viet-
Khao Wong Prachan Valley, central Thai- nam 13, 16, 114, 122, 140, 150, 170-171
land 68 O Pie Can, Preah Vihear province, northern
Khlong Thom see Khuan Luk Pad Cambodia 68
Khuan Luk Pad, Krabi province, Thai-Malay Pakistan 158, 163
Peninsula, Thailand 122, 159 Persia 158
Koh Ta Meas, Siem Reap province, northwestern Phnom Borei, Takeo province, southern Cam-
Cambodia 46, 107, 125-126, 139-140, 145 bodia 61, 121, 145, 146-147
Krek 10.8 see Village 10.8, Kampong Cham prov- Phnom Deck, Preah Vihear province, northern
ince, southeastern Cambodia Cambodia 66
Kuy see ethnic miniorities Phu Chanh, Binh Duong province, southern
Lai Nghi, Quang Nam province, central Viet- Vietnam 81, 149, 169
nam 89, 94, 117, 119, 152-153, 154, 155, Phu Hoa, Dong Nai province, southern Viet-
160-161, 162 nam 71, 163
Laowangzhai deposit, Yunnan province, south- Phu Kham deposit, Xieng Khoang province,
ern China 115 Laos 114
Lien Lau, Bac Ninh province, north Viet- Phu Lon, Nong Khai province, northeastern
nam 83 Thailand 68
Lijiashan, Yunnan province, southern Phu Luu, Quang Binh province, central Viet-
China 155-156 nam 79
Liujiagou see Kele, Guizhou province, southern Phum Krasang Thmei, Banteay Meancheay
China province, northwestern Cambodia 126, 145,
Loc Ninh, Binh Phuoc province, southern Viet- 146, 166
nam 163 Phum Snay, Banteay Meanchey province, north-
looting 13-14, 19-21, 23-24, 25, 29-30, 33, 35, western Cambodia 13, 45, 51-52, 63, 68, 75,
38, 54, 116, 133 90, 91, 94, 107, 113, 121, 126, 139, 145, 146-
148, 166-167
194 Index
pig see animal burial 24 75, 76, 110, 112, 118, 119
Pires, Tomé (~1465– ~1524 / 1540) 156 burial 25 85, 112
Pre-Funan culture 49, 76, 159-160, 167 burial 26 61, 108, 112, 125
Prek Puoy, Kampong Cham province, south- burial 27 52, 61, 110, 112
eastern Cambodia 81, 83, 149-150 burial 28 61
Prey Khmeng, Siem Reap province, northwest- burial 29 -
ern Cambodia 45, 107, 126, 145, 146-147, burial 30 61, 75
166 burial 31 61, 75
Prohear, Prey Veng province, southeastern Cam- burial 32 125
bodia 23, 27, 28-34 burial 33 42, 48, 52, 59, 61, 68, 75-76, 85, 87,
burial, distribution map 32 88, 92, 93, 94-95, 99-101, 108, 109, 118-
burial 1 33 119, 123, 147
burial 2 42, 51, 54, 59, 79, 85, 89, 105, 108, burial 34 52, 61, 75-76, 112, 118-119
112 burial 35 61, 75-76, 112, 119, 123
burial 3 42, 46, 54, 59, 85, 86, 99-100, 110, burial 36 61, 75, 99-101
112, 114, 118, burial 37 33
burial 4 39, 41-42, 45-46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 55, burial 38 61, 75
59, 74, 75, 76, 77-78, 79, 80, 83-84, 85, burial 39 61, 75, 119
86, 87, 89, 90-91, 94, 99-100, 104, 109- burial 40 52, 56, 59, 61, 75-76, 86, 99, 118
110, 112, 114, 119, 125-126, 147 burial 41 59, 61
burial 5 39, 43, 125 burial 42 119
burial 6 33 burial 43 61, 112, 119
burial 7 39, 99, 101, 105 burial 44 41-42, 74-76, 105, 112
burial 8 99, 112, 119 burial 45 75, 112
burial 9 40, 75-76, 99, 125 burial 46 42, 59, 75-76, 85, 86, 88, 89, 99-
burial 10 42, 54, 59, 75, 79, 85, 87, 112 101, 118, 118, 153, 158
burial 11 51, 75-76, 119 burial 47 42, 43, 51-52, 53, 59, 61, 75, 94,
burial 12 40, 46, 52, 59, 73, 75, 86, 87, 110, 95, 96-97, 98, 99, 101, 109, 119, 142, 147-
112 148
burial 13 104, 125 burial 48 43, 75
burial 14 75, 85, 86, 119, 150 burial 49 39, 43, 48, 54, 59
burial 15 48, 54, 58, 59, 99, 104, 118 burial 50 51, 75, 85, 87
burial 16 40, 48, 99 burial 51 39, 59, 61
burial 17 33 burial 52 33
burial 18 75, 85, 87, 125 dating 39-41, 99-102, 145
burial 19 39, 48, 59, 99, 106, 105 demographical data 48-52, 59-60
burial 20 41, 42, 61, 75-76 excavation 32-36
burial 21 41, 42, 48, 59, 21 food remains 47-48
burial 22 41, 49, 75-76, 112 handicrafts 61-72
burial 23 41, 75, 119 jar burial 39, 43, 49, 59, 101, 124, 125
Index 195
jewelry 14, 45, 51-53, 54, 75 smithing hearth see iron smithing hearth
landscape 28 South Asia 120-121, 143, 158-160, 163
map 19, 27, 32 spindle whorl see ceramics
mortuary period 39-44 spinning and weaving see textile production
name of the village 30 Sri Lanka 159
settlement 61 Stieng (Stiên) see ethnic minorities
site 28-34 stone objects 22,
skeletal remains 45, 47-48, 102-105, 106, earring 75, 123
107, 108, 109, 124 phallic-shaped stone pestle 50, 51, 54, 165
weapon 51-52, 54, 75-76 sugar boiling 22
Rach Gia Bay, Kien Giang province, southern Sulawesi 153
Vietnam 171 Sumatra 163
Rach Nui, Long An province, southern Viet- Suoi Chon, Dong Nai province, southern Viet-
nam 71 nam 71
restoration work 35, 73, 127, 128, 129, 130-131, Taxila, Pakistan 86, 163
132, 136-137 Temu, first capital of Funan 13, 170
rhinoceros see animal textile production 51-52, 62-63,
rock crystal Tien Lanh, Quang Nam province, central Viet-
beads see beads, rock crystal nam 95
bracelet 152 tiger see animal
earring 160 Tillya Tepe, Afghanistan 86
Sa Huynh, Quang Ngai province, central Vietnam tortoise see animal
see Sa Huynh culture Toul Prasat Kro Houm, Svay Rieng province,
Sa Huynh culture 13, 44, 50, 71, 75, 95, 112, 124, southeastern Cambodia 22
139, 153, 159-160, 167, 169 Tra Dong, Thanh Hoa province, northern Viet-
salt making 13, 70-71 nam 83
Sampeou Loon deposit, Kampong Cham prov- Transbassac area 113, 150-153, 158
ince, southeastern Cambodia 113-114, 115 Troja, Türkei 84
Samrong Sen, Kampong Chhnang province, Trung sisters (~12-43 AD) 77, 169
central Cambodia 68 Truong Giang, Thanh Hoa province, northern
San Antonio, Gabriel Quiroga de (~1560- Vietnam 79
1608) 156 Ukraine 86
Sanxingdui, Sichuan province, China 155 Vat Komnou see Angkor Borei, Takeo province
Sedang (Cédan) see ethnic minorities Village 10.8, Kampong Cham province, south-
Shizhaishan, Yunnan province, southern eastern Cambodia 75, 95, 121, 140-141,
China 57, 167 142-143, 145, 146, 148-149, 152, 166-167
silk 155, 164 Vincent, Frank (1848-1916) 157
silk route by sea 16, 155 Vinh Phuc, Binh Dinh province, central Viet-
silk route by land 167, 170 nam 81
silver see gold
196 Index
Vung Tau and Vung Tau Bay, southern Viet- Yimencun near Bạoi city, Shaanxi province 57
nam 13, 139, 149, 155, 160, 166, 170 Yue 82, 170
wealth scale 56-59, 117-118 Zhao Rugua (1170-1228) 156
Yata deposit, Guizhou province, southern Zhou Daguan (~1270-1350) 45, 84, 89, 156-
China 115 157
Yelang culture 148, 167, 169-170 Zimudang deposit, Guizhou province, southern
Yen Bac, Ha Nam province, northern Viet- China 115
nam 46
197
198 Index
Index 199
200 Index
Index 201
202 Index
Index 203
204 Index
Index 205
206 Index
Index 207
208 Index
Index 209
210 Index
Index 211
212
Index 213
214 Index
Index 215
216 Index
Index 217
218 Index
Index 219
220 Index
Index 221
222 Index
Index 223
224 Index
Index 225
The Prohear Archaeological Team
Andreas Reinecke (Bonn) is affiliated with the Commission for Archaeology of Non-Euro-
pean Cultures (KAAK) of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Bonn, Germany. He
has studied prehistoric archaeology and Vietnamese language in Berlin. In the last decade,
he has focused on the Metal Age periods in Southeast Asia and managed excavations on
both sides of the southern Vietnamese-Cambodian border.
Vin Laychour (Phnom Penh) is General Director of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of
Culture and Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He studied prehistoric archaeology at the
Faculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts (Phnom Penh) and at the Eberhard
Karls University of Tübingen (Germany). Since 2003 he has taught archaeology at the Royal
University of Fine Arts. He is also a member of the Memot Centre staff and has carried out
excavations at numerous sites in southeast Cambodia.
Seng Sonetra (Phnom Penh) is conservator in the Metal Restoration Laboratory of the
Memot Centre for Archaeology. She studied archaeology at the Royal University of Fine
Arts, and was educated in metal restoration at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum
(RGZM) in Mainz, Germany. She teaches metal conservation at the Faculty of Archaeology,
Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, and has worked on several excavations at sites
in southeast Cambodia.