City of Koh Ker was occupied centuries longer than previously thought.

[Kung-fu Hillbilly]

Coring locations. Image Google Earth

Ancient ecological data reveals urban populations lasted long after royal abandonment of the Khmer city

"The classic account of the ancient city of Koh Ker is one of a briefly-occupied and abruptly-abandoned region, but in reality, the area may have been occupied for several centuries beyond what is traditionally acknowledged, according to a study published October 10, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tegan Hall of the University of Sydney, Australia and colleagues."

"The newly-painted picture is of a region that was occupied well before the Angkor period, at least as far back as the late 7th century CE, and continuing seven centuries or more after the royal seat's departure. "

"The settlement history of the site is extensive and complex, beginning in the pre-Angkor period and lasting for centuries beyond the decline of Angkor."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 141742.htm

[CEOCambodiaNews]

Ground penetrating radar reveals why ancient Cambodian capital was moved to Angkor
Koh Ker - Credit : thomas wanhoff by HeritageDailyNovember 1, 2019

The largest water management feature in Khmer history was built in the 10th century as part of a short-lived ancient capital in northern Cambodia to store water but the system failed in its first year of operation, possibly leading to the return of the capital to Angkor.

An international team of researchers led by Dr Ian Moffat from Flinders University in Australia used ground penetrating radar to map the surface of a buried spillway in Koh Ker to better understand why the reservoir failed during its first year of use.

In a study published in Geoarchaeology, archaeologists explain that the 7km long embankment was designed to capture water from the Stung Rongea river but modelling indicates it was inadequate to contain the average water flow in the catchment, putting into question the legitimacy of Khmer kings, and forcing them to re-establish their capital in Angkor.


Regional map of Koh Ker showing the location of the chute and key archaeological features. The detailed map area (top right) is shown as a white dashed box on the regional map (left). The black dashed line in the detailed map area shows the approximate area of Fig 2. The location of Koh Ker compared with Angkor, Phnom Penh, and Ho Chi Minh City is shown in the bottom right. North is up in all figures. Credit : Dr Ian Moffat, Flinders University

“At that time, embarking on projects of civil engineering such as temple building, urban renewal, and the development of water infrastructure was central to establishing the legitimacy of Khmer kings,” says Dr Moffat

“It’s not difficult to envisage that the failure of the embankment at Koh Ker–the largest and most ambitious infrastructure project of the era–may have had a significant impact on the prestige of the sovereign capital, and contributed to the decision to re-establish Angkor as the capital of the Khmer Empire."
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2019/11/g ... kor/124764

[Mishmash]

The Water Infrastructure apparently went downhill after that and continues to do so.

However , the breweries with their nifty ideas and modern miracles have turned water into wine, so we can drink the floods dry 2000 riel at a time for centuries to come.

Long Live Angkor Beer - the new Kings of Cambodia

[chiltern]

I thought wineries made wine and breweries made beer

[John Bingham]

I was there a few months back, it's an awesome site. It seems a strange place to build a city, way up in the dry hills.

[Duncan]

I was there a few months back, it's an awesome site. It seems a strange place to build a city, way up in the dry hills.

Perhaps they knew about global warming and the sea levels rising.

[Gator]

I was just there a couple weeks ago. Only 3 other people there. It and the smaller temples in the area around it are pretty amazing. Prasat Pram, in particular.