Drought could have destroyed ancient city

A PROLONGED and intense drought may have contributed to the demise of Cambodia’s great ancient city Angkor, an American researcher said .

Brendan M Buckley said bands on tree rings that he and his colleagues have examined show that Southeast Asia was hit by a severe drought from 1415 until 1439.

That would coincide with the time period during which many archeologists believe Angkor collapsed. From the city of famed temples, Angkorian kings ruled over most of Southeast Asia between the ninth and 14th centuries.

During that time, they oversaw construction of architectural stone marvels, including Angkor Wat, regarded as a marvel of religious architecture and designated as a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

“Given all the stress the Khmer civilisation was under due to political reasons and so forth, a drought of the magnitude we see in our records should have played a significant role in causing its demise,” said Buckley, a research scientist at Columbia University’s Tree-Ring Laboratory in New York. Scientists have a historical record of droughts with the thickness of a tree’s rings. Since trees grow more during wet periods, the rings will grow thicker at those times. Trees grow less in dry times, so those rings will be thinner.

While the 1431 invasion from Siam – now Thailand – has long been regarded as a major cause of Angkor’s fall, archaeologists working at the sprawling temple site have long suspected that ecological factors played a role. The Greater Angkor Project is run by the University of Sydney in collaboration with the French archaeological group Ecole Francaise d’Extreme Orient and Apsara, the body responsible for the management of the Angkor World Heritage Park. The project concluded in 2007 that ancient Angkor had become unwieldy and that efforts to expand rice production to support a population of one million had led to vast deforestation, top-soil degradation and erosion.

Last year, the group went further to show that the deforestation resulted in flooding and huge amounts of sediment clogging the network of canals that was at the heart of the city’s vital water management system.

Dan Penny, a University of Sydney researcher who is a director at the Greater Angkor Project, said the new findings on drought will help researchers gain a greater understanding of why Angkor collapsed.

“Angkor was a civilisation obsessed with managing water. It was an agrarian society,” Penny said. “It’s hard to imagine that a society like that could have shrugged off 20 or 30 years of drought.”

However, Penny said it was likely that the drought was more of a contributing factor to the kingdom’s demise than a driving force. Not only was it forced to contend with the impacts of deforestation, but also attacks from the Siamese and the Cham of southern Vietnam.

“We have these droughts occurring on top of pre-existing pressures,” Penny said.

“Climate change was an accelerant,” he said. “It’s like pouring petrol on a fire. It makes social and economic pressures that may have been endurable disastrous.”

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Source: ki-media.blogspot.com, 23 Sept 2009

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More related info.:

– Archaelogists have breakthrough regarding the decline of Angkor

– Angkor’s temples and climate change doom

– The errors of Angkor

– Development pressures threaten Angkor Wat ruins

– Climate change helped Angkor’s decline: scientist

គ្រឹះ​ប្រាសាទ​បូរាណ​៣​កន្លែង​ត្រូវ​បាន​រក​ឃើញ​នៅ​ក្បែរ​ប្រាសាទ​តាមាន់

ប្រភព​ពី​មន្ត្រី​យោធា​ខ្មែរ​ដែល​កំពុង​ការពារ​ព្រំដែន​នៅ​តំបន់​ប្រាសាទ ​តាមាន់​ក្នុង​ស្រុក​បន្ទាយ​អំពិល ខេត្ត​ឧត្តរមានជ័យ បាន​ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ថា គេ​បាន​រក​ឃើញ​គ្រឹះ​ប្រាសាទ​បូរាណ​ដែល​រង​ការបាក់បែក​ចំនួន​៣​កន្លែង​និង​ អណ្តូង​បូរាណ​ចំនួន​២​កាលពី​ពេល​ថ្មីៗ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ព្រៃ​លើ​ខ្នង​ភ្នំ​ដងរែក​ មិន​ឆ្ងាយ​ប៉ុន្មាន​ពី​ប្រាសាទ​តាមាន់​ទេ ខណៈ​ដែល​កង​ទាហាន​ការពារ​ព្រំដែន​ខ្មែរ​បាន​ដើរ​ស្វែងរក​ការបោះ​ជំរំ​កង​ទ័ព ​ទី​នោះ។

នាយ​សេនាធិការ​នៃ​កង​យោធពល​ខេមរ​ភូមិន្ទ​របស់​កង​ពល​តូច​លេខ​៤២​ដែល​ កំពុង​ប្រចាំការ​នៅ​ប្រាសាទ​តាមាន់ លោក​វរសេនីយ៍​ឯក នាក់ វង្ស បាន​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​កាលពី​ព្រឹក​ថ្ងៃ​សៅរ៍ ទី​១៨ ខែ​កក្កដា ថា កាលពី​៤​ថ្ងៃ​មុន​លោក​បាន​ដឹកនាំ​កង​ទ័ព​ដើរ​ល្បាត​ដើម្បី​ស្វែងរក​កន្លែង​ បោះ​ជំរំ​ក៏​បាន​ប្រទះ​ឃើញ​ទី​ទួល​ចំនួន​៣​កន្លែង​ជាប់ៗ​គ្នា ប៉ុន្តែ​បន្ទាប់​ពី​ពិនិត្យ​ច្បាស់​លាស់​ទើប​ដឹង​ថា​ជា​ប្រាសាទ​បូរាណ​ដែល​ បាក់​បែក​និង​មាន​អណ្តូង​បូរាណ​ផង នៅ​ក្នុង​ព្រៃ​ចម្ងាយ​ប្រមាណ​៣​គីឡូ​ម៉ែត្រ​ភាគ​ខាង​លិច​ឆៀង​ខាង​ត្បូង​ពី​ ប្រាសាទ​តាមាន់។

លោក​វរសេនីយ៍​ឯក នាក់ វង្ស បាន​ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ថា ៖ «អ្នក​ស្រុក អ្នក​ភូមិ គេ​ថា​ប្រាសាទ​ដៃកី។ ប្រាសាទ​ហ្នឹង​មិន​ល្អ​ទេ គ្រាន់​តែ​វា​នៅ​គ្រឹះ នៅ​បល្ល័ង្ក​អី​ខ្លះ… គ្រាន់តែ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ហ្នឹង​វា​មាន​អណ្ដូង​បូរាណ​ពីរ»។

អភិបាល​ខេត្ត​ឧត្តរមានជ័យ លោក ប៉ិច សុខិន បាន​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា ពិត​ជា​មាន​ការរក​ឃើញ​ប្រាសាទ​បូរាណ​ដែល​បែកបាក់​មែន​កាលពី​ពេល​ថ្មីៗ។ លោក​អភិបាល​ខេត្ត​បាន​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ទៀត​ថា ដោយសារ​តែ​តំបន់​ប្រាសាទ​ដែល​ទើប​រក​ឃើញ​នោះ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ព្រៃ​ដែល​មាន​គ្រាប់​ មីន​ផង លោក​បាន​ប្រគល់​ការគ្រប់គ្រង​និង​ថែរក្សា​ជា​បណ្តោះ​អាសន្ន​ទៅ​ឲ្យ​កង​ទាហាន ​នៅ​ទី​នោះ​ដើម្បី​បោស​សម្អាត​មីន​កប់​ក្រោម​ដី​និង​ធ្វើ​ផ្លូវ​ឲ្យ​ ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​ចេញ​ចូល​ទស្សនា ហើយ​លោក​ក៏​បាន​បញ្ជូន​ដំណឹង​នេះ​ទៅ​មន្ត្រី​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ថ្នាក់​ជាតិ​ផងដែរ។

លោក ប៉ិច សុខិន បាន​បញ្ជាក់​ថា ៖ «យើង​បាន​ជូន​ដំណឹង​ទៅ​លើ​ហើយ ការថែ​រក្សា​គឺ​ប្រគល់​ឲ្យ​ខាង​យោធា មើល​មីន​មើល​អី ហើយ​ឆ្ការ​ព្រៃ​ឲ្យ​ទូលាយ​ដើម្បី​ឲ្យ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​ទៅ​ទស្សនា»។

អ្នក​បូរាណ​វិទ្យា​របស់​កម្ពុជា​បាន​និយាយ​ថា នៅ​លើ​ខ្នង​ភ្នំ​ដងរែក​គឺមាន​ប្រាសាទ​បូរាណ​ជា​ច្រើន​ទៀត​ដែល​គេ​ពុំ​ធ្លាប់ ​ជួប​ប្រទះ​នៅ​ឡើយ។

អ្នក​ជំនាញ​ខាង​សិលាចារឹក លោក​បណ្ឌិត មីសែល ត្រាណេ បាន​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា ប្រាសាទ​បូរាណ​ជា​ច្រើន​ដែល​លាក់​កំបាំង​នៅ​ក្នុង​ព្រៃ​នៃ​ខ្នង​ភ្នំ​ដងរែក​ ចាប់​ពី​ខេត្ត​ឧត្តរមានជ័យ​រហូត​ដល់​ខេត្ត​បន្ទាយមានជ័យ ដែល​កសាង​ឡើង​ចាប់​ពី​សតវត្សរ៍​ទី​៧ រហូត​ដល់​ទី​១១ នៃ​គ្រិស្ត​សករាជ ដែល​ប្រាសាទ​ខ្លះ​មិន​ទាន់​បាន​ចុះ​ឈ្មោះ​ក្នុង​បញ្ជី​នៃ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​នៅ ​ឡើយ ហើយ​ប្រាសាទ​ខ្លះ​ត្រូវ​អ្នក​ជួញ​ដូរ​វត្ថុ​បូរាណ​គាស់​បំផ្លាញ​ខ្ទេចខ្ទី។

លោក មីសែល ត្រាណេ បាន​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា ក្នុង​ចំណោម​ប្រាសាទ​តាមាន់​តូច តាមាន់​ធំ និង​ប្រាសាទ​ថ្ម​បាយ​ក្រៀម​ខ្លះ​ទៀត កសាង​នៅ​សតវត្សរ៍​ទី​១១ ៖ «ការលេច​ធ្លោ​ឡើង​គឺ​សតវត្សរ៍​១១ ព្រោះ​សិលា​ចារឹក​មួយ​បាន​និយាយ​ច្បាស់​ថា ក្នុង​រជ្ជកាល​របស់​ព្រះបាទ ឧទ័យាទិត្យវរ្ម័ន​ទី​១»។

លោក មីសែល ត្រាណេ បាន​ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ទៀត​ថា តំបន់​ខ្នង​ភ្នំ​ដងរែក​គឺ​មាន​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​ខ្មែរ​រស់នៅ​ជា​យូរយារ​មក​ហើយ ដែល​ជា​តំបន់​ឆ្លង​កាត់​ពី​រាជធានី​អង្គរ​ទៅ​តំបន់​ខ្ពង់រាប​នគររាជសីមា​ដែល ​មាន​ខេត្ត​ជា​ច្រើន​ដូច​ជា​សុរិន្ទ ខេត្ត​បូរីរ៉ាំ និង អ៊ូប៊ុន នៃ​អាណាចក្រ​ខ្មែរ​សម័យ​នោះ៕

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ប្រភព​ ៖​ វិទ្យុ​អាស៊ីសេរី ១៩ កក្តដា ២០០៩

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ពត៌មានទាក់ទង៖

- ប្រាសាទតាមាន់ធំ(បណ្តាញពត៌មានវប្បធម៌ខ្មែរ)
- រដ្ឋលេខាធិការ​ក្រសួង​វប្បធម៌៖ ប្រាសាទ​តាមាន់​ធំ​ជា​របស់​ខ្មែរ (វិទ្យុ​អាស៊ីសេរី 04  សីហា​ ២០០៨)
- ប្រាសាទតាមាន់ធំ​ (ឈូកខ្មែរ)

Urban sprawl hastened Angkor’s collapse

OVER-DEVELOPMENT of water infrastructure and extreme climate fluctuations have been blamed for the collapse of the ancient Cambodian city of Angkor.

International scientists have used new archeological, pollen and tree-ring dating evidence to back their claims to have solved one of archeology’s mysteries.

Sydney University archeologist Roland Fletcher — a co-director of the Greater Angkor Project, an initiative involving Cambodian, French and Australian experts — said he believed there were “clear implications for modern cities”.

Professor Fletcher and his GAP co-director, Sydney University paleo-climatologist Dan Penny, and paleoclimatologist Brendan Buckley of New York’s Columbia University detail their findings in a paper they are preparing for publication.

The group will argue that before an alternating series of droughts and monsoonal floods hit Angkor from the mid-14th to late 15th centuries, the capital of the Khmer empire had already had extensive problems with its vast, complicated water system.

Ultimately, it became impossible for the city to keep pace with further pressures from extreme weather. “Although there was ongoing conflict with neighbouring states, it was this over-built, inflexible (water) infrastructure that locked them into this trajectory of decline,” Dr Penny said.

Before Angkor vanished into the jungle in the 17th century, it was the world’s largest low-density pre-industrial city. Between the ninth and 13th centuries, the metropolis spread across 1000sq km and was home to as many as 750,000 people.

To feed the population, land was extensively cleared for rice farming and hundreds of kilometres of canals and enormous reservoirs were built to provide water for farming and drinking. One earthen reservoir on the west side of Angkor covered 16sq km.

The water works also supported religious ceremonies at hundreds of temple complexes.

The most spectacular was Angkor Wat, the world’s largest premodern religious monument. “It was the size of a medieval European town,” Professor Fletcher said.

As the city grew, so did the highly integrated system of canals, spillways and reservoirs needed to support it.

Sand had begun filling major canals from the 14th century. Spillways and other features of the waterworks were badly damaged and shut down.

By the late 16th century, Angkor was largely abandoned, taking with it the entire region.

According to Professor Fletcher, Angkor is not the only city that fell victim to unsustainable low-density urban sprawl followed by climate instability. “The famous example is the classic Maya cities of the Yucatan Pensinsula like Tikal in Guatemala. They died between the ninth and the 11th century.”

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Source: THE AUSTRALIAN, 24 June 2009

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More related info.:

– Archaelogists have breakthrough regarding the decline of Angkor

– Angkor’s temples and climate change doom

– The errors of Angkor

– Development pressures threaten Angkor Wat ruins

– Climate change helped Angkor’s decline: scientist

Researchers Look Closer at Ancient Angkor

Ancient Khmer art and culture have characteristics distinct from India, though some ideas appear to have been borrowed from the tradition, a Canadian archeologist told guests in Washington last week.

Speaking to a small conference at the Freer-Sackler Art Gallery, Mitch Henderickson, director of the Industries of Angkor Project and researcher at the University of Sydney, said he found no evidence after seven years of research indicating that temples or architectural structures like Angkor Wat had been built in India.

“In the past it was interpreted as a direct diffusion of Indians and Indian ideals into Cambodia,” he said. “It has only been, say, in the last 10 years that we have truly understood how Brahman and Buddhist ideals have been brought into Cambodia and whether the actual Brahman or monks were giving the ideas.”

Some architecture and arts were now thought “uniquely Khmer,” he said, “because there are no temples in India that are built in the same way. They don’t follow the idea of building a ‘baray’ with a ‘mebon’ in the center, which is the representation of Mount Meru in the Sea of Milk [epic]. There’s nothing like that i​n India. So, the idea is that now we realize that Cambodia took the ideas that they wanted and modified them to suit the purpose and goals of the rulers and kings.”

Henderickson said Angkor was the biggest industrial site in the world at that time. His findings show that the Khmers had infrastructure spanning their empire.

Roads started from modern northern Cambodia and reached northern Thailand and southern Laos, spreading south to present-day Kampong Thom province. Every road was accompanied by ponds and rest-houses to facilitate people’s travel and transportation.

Irrigation systems were established as water sources for agriculture.

Evidence now pointed away from such structures being built by King Jayavarman VII, he said, and now indicated they were done by King Suryavarman I.

An ancient text he had studied “doesn’t say [Jayavarman VII] built roads, it doesn’t say he built bridges, and it doesn’t say he built the ponds, but we have all the evidence in the landscape,” Henderickson said. “And we also know that the Khmers were expanding across this territory 200 years before Jayavarman VII. So, it is more realistic to think that the road system that we see today is the product of Suryavaraman I, and possibly an earlier king.”

Cambodia is much loved for its ancient architecture and culture, but much remains unknown. Tourism is the second-highest outside earner for the country, after garment manufacturing.

The remnants of the Khmer empire continue to draw tourists from abroad, while capturing the imagination of local visitors, but the country continues to lose its heritage to looters and grave robbers.

There are two kinds of looting, said Dougald O’Reilly, a colleague of Henderickson who also attended last week’s talk, said: temple looting and looting of ancient cemeteries.

“The second one is mostly driven by people poverty,” said O’Reilly, who is also an archeologist and is the director of Heritage Watch, a non-profit group that seeks to protect Cambodia’s artifacts.

“The international market is a driving force, so people who are poor, they need to make money, and they are encouraged to loot by people who are middlemen in this trade,” O’Reilly said. “So, often we have Cambodian and Thai people asking villagers if they have antiquities, etc.”

People who feel guilty looting temples may not feel the same way about ancient cemeteries, he said.

Heritage Watch has a variety of programs, such as publishing comics and children’s books, a Heritage Friendly Tourism Campaign that encourages tourists to buy products from businesses that are “heritage friendly.” A

The organization hopes to educate local people to understand the importance of Cambodia’s cultural past, which attracts tourists—and income.

“Cambodia really represents the best of the best in heritage,” he said. “So, people come there for heritage, but at the same time it has been chipped away and destroyed at rather alarming rate. If Cambodia wants to build a sustainable and a long term tourism industry, it’s crucial that they preserve and protect not only the monuments but also the ancient sites.”

Scientists need these sites to understand how Angkor came to be, and what happened to it, he said. “But if these heritages are lost, we can’t answer these questions.”

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Source: VOA Khmer, 22 June 2009

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– Archaelogists have breakthrough regarding the decline of Angkor

Archaelogists have breakthrough regarding the decline of Angkor

25 June 2009

One of archaeology’s great mysteries has been solved. According to the team headed by Professor Roland Fletcher, the great medieval city of Angkor was abandoned due to the combined effects of climate change, the vast extent of city, extensive clearance of forest and the massive scale of its complicated water system.

The findings were based on the research of the Greater Angkor Project, a collaboration between the University, the great French research agency EFEO and APSARA the Cambodian agency that manages Angkor. A decade of research studying the decline of urbanism at Angkor has now been combined with new tree-ring-dating evidence that uses long-lived species in the region such as the 900-year-old po mu tree. Evidence that extreme fluctuations between drought and heavy monsoons were occuring between the 1350s and the about 1500 was found in the annual growth rings of the tree.

At its height from the 12th to 14th centuries, the elaborate city of Angkor had a population of about 750,000 and was the most extensive, low density urban development of the preindustrial world. Yet by the 17th century, the city was in ruins and abandoned.

The archaeological team investigating the phenomena of Angkor includes the University of Sydney’s Professor Fletcher, and paleoclimatologist Dr Dan Penny. The tree ring evidence has been provided by paleoclimatologist Brendan Buckley of New York’s Columbia University.

The researchers hypothesise that the decline of the city was due to extensive problems with the massive structures of its vast, and complicated water system and the compound effect of a series of droughts and monsoonal floods in the mid-14th to late 15th centuries.

In an article in The National Geographic Professor Fletcher said, “Angkor really had no fat to burn. The city was more exposed to the threat of drought than at any other time in its history. Prolonged and severe droughts, punctuated by torrential downpours, would have ruined the water system.”

The findings have important lessons for contemporary readings of climate change. As experts debate the effects of human-made climate change, the tree rings of the po mu tree around Angkor reveal that even natural variations in weather can bring about catastrophe.

Source: The University of Sydney

Contact: Sarah Stock

Phone: 02 9351 4312 or 0419 278 715

Email: sarah.stock@usyd.edu.au

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