Reviewing Angkor: starting with the beginnings
a talk by Dr. Christophe Pottier

Date: Thursday 29 November 2012
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: The Siam Society

Patiently reconstructed from epigraphy, architectural and stylistic analysis of monumental remains, history and historians placed the birth of Angkor with the coronation of King Jayavarman II as "universal sovereign" at the top of Phnom Kulen in 802 AD. With him, the Angkorian period officially started. After him, almost all the sovereigns stayed and reigned in Angkor until its abandonment somewhere around the 15th  century. Thus, Jayavarman II seems not only like the first "supreme king" to reign in Angkor, but more specifically like the creator of the Angkorian royalty, its organization and some of its worships which endured all the following reigns.No capital settlement in Angkor has ever been seriously attributed to Jayavarman II ; nevertheless, this historical framework has been rigidly adhered to for nearly a century. Promising archaeological discoveries were made in the 30s, revealing substantial remains of an earlier capital in the vicinity of the Western Baray. But these works remained unfortunately unfinished, and they were unable to trigger any reassessment of the accepted historical reconstruction.Recent archaeological works highlight once again the inconsistencies and the gaps of this nice (Hi)story, and reveal some significant pieces of typical Angkorian settlements pre-existing Jayavarman II. This paper will present the challenges and some results of these archaeological investigations, suggesting that Angkor predates Angkor.
The Siam Society Members, Members' spouses and children, and all students showing valid student I.D. cards, are admitted free of charge. 
Non-Members Donation B200. 

The Siam Society is deeply grateful to the James H.W. Thompson Foundation for its generous support of the 2012 - 2013 Lecture Series

The Society premises are situated on Asoke Montri Road (Sukhumvit Soi 21) two minutes walk from Sukhumvit subway station (exit 1) 
and five minutes walk from Asoke skytrain station (exit 3).

The Journal of the Siam Society online: accessed through http://www.siam-society.org/OJS/index.php/JSS/index

"Knowledge Gives Rise to Friendship" was adopted as the Siam Society's motto in 1924, 
to convey the message that the search for knowledge is the bridge to friendship between people of all nations.

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 conference