Research and International Training in Southeast Asian Archaeology
by Miriam Stark
Cambodia has witnessed widespread desecration of its archaeological resources, especially
in the last 25 years. Political upheavals between 1971 and 1989 precluded archaeological
research and decimated the Cambodian intellectual community. In the relative calm since
then, restoration and conservation of the Angkorian monuments of the Siem Riep
province have been sponsored by UNESCO, Ecole Français d'Extrême
Orient (Paris), the Japanese government, the World Monuments Fund, the government of
Indonesia, and the Angkor Foundation.
Here we would like to present a new multidisciplinary, international research project in
southern Cambodia called the 'University of Hawai'i Cambodia Project'. This project
represents a collaboration among researchers at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, the
East-West Center (Honolulu), and the Royal University of Fine Arts ( a division of the
Ministry of Culture and the Fine Arts) in Phnom Penh. Project directors include: Dr
Chuch Phoeurn (Royal University of Fine Arts), Dr P. Bion Griffin (University of
Hawai'i-Manoa), Dr Miriam Stark (University of Hawai'i-Manoa), and Dr Judy
Ledgerwood (East-West Center).
The work of the Cambodia Project concentrates on both international training and
multidisciplinary research in Hawai'i and in Cambodia. Current research by the
University of Hawai'i Cambodia project focuses on pre-Angkorean land-use and state
formation along the Lower Mekong region of southern Cambodia. Research planned for
the next five years also entails the study of Neolithic and Bronze Age period sites in areas
of central Cambodia.
Project Description and Goals
The UH Cambodia Project was initiated in 1993 with grants from the East-West Center's
Indochina Initiative, the UH/East-West Center Collaborative Research Program, and from
the Henry Luce Foundation. The primary goal of the UH Cambodia project's training
component is to help rebuild the archaeological programme in Cambodia by providing
academic and technical training to Cambodian students. Training is conducted in the
United States at the University of Hawai'i as well as in Cambodia. Outstanding students
from the Royal Fine Arts University Faculty of Archaeology (Phnom Penh) receive
training at the University of Hawai'i. Ten Cambodian students participated in the 1995
UH Cambodia Project's summer field school in Cambodia, and as many as five students
will join the field project for the 1996 field season. Plans are also underway to seek
funding for a semester-abroad teacher exchange programme. This programme will bring
American project members of the UH Cambodia Project to the Royal University of Fine
Arts (Phnom Penh) and Cambodian professors to the University of Hawai'i for teaching
and research over the next 3-5 years.
The UH Cambodia Project invests much of its energies in training a new generation of
archaeologists. While a primary goal of the project is to prepare Cambodian students to
undertake graduate training in archaeology in the United States, another important
objective is to facilitate training and thesis research for American (and other non-
Cambodian) archaeology students. These students will receive graduate training at the
University of Hawai'i-Manoa in archaeology, anthropology, and Khmer. Special training
in analytical techniques (including compositional analysis and Geographic Information
Systems, GIS) is also available. Graduate students will participate in the Cambodian field
project as field instructors and field researchers. The training component of the UH
Cambodia Project thus provides academic and field training to Cambodian students and
American archaeology graduate students.
International, multidisciplinary research is the major component of the UH Cambodia Project. The project brings together American and Cambodian scholars with disciplinary interests in archaeology, cultural anthropology, and environmental studies. The project also welcomes international collaboration in allied fields, such as geology, palaeo- ethnobotany, archaeological and architectural conservation, zoo-archaeology. Research in the 1995 summer field season obtained the preliminary data necessary for developing a long-term research programme. The 1995-1996 segment of the project is using this information to focus on changes in long-term land-use practices in the Angkor Borei region (Takeo province) of southern Cambodia.
Project Activities to Date
Five Cambodian students with degrees from the Royal University of Fine Arts (Phnom
Penh) have arrived in Honolulu for the 1995-1996 academic year. Two of these students
are alumni from the 1994-1995 academic training programme. These five students will
receive training in English, anthropology, and archaeology from archaeologists in the
Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawai'i. Together with UH Project
members, they will return to Cambodia for a summer 1996 field season.
A collaborative team of researchers from the University of Hawai'i, the East-West
Center, and the Royal University of Fine Arts conducted preliminary research in the
Angkor Borei region of Takeo province during the summer of 1995. This region is
famous as the cradle of one of the earliest civilizations in mainland Southeast Asia. Called
"Funan" by visiting Chinese dignitaries, it reputedly contained multiple urban centres
between the first and sixth centuries AD. Among these are Oc Eo (in modern Vietnam)
and Angkor Borei (in modern Cambodia). Brief excavations at Oc Eo in the 1950s by
Louis Malleret revealed a complex system of water control and rich material culture, but
the site has been largely destroyed through vandalism since that time. Angkor Borei faces
the same threat of rampant vandalism witnessed at other sites such as Oc Eo. However,
out 1995 fieldwork confirmed that archaeological deposits at Angkor Borei are sufficiently
intact to merit long-term research.
This long-term research programme uses two strategies to develop a comprehensive view
of past and present land-use patterns in the Angkor Borei region. The first involves
documentation of the human impact on the past and present landscapes of Takeo Province
through archaeological, geographic, and ethnographic techniques and the use of archival
materials. The second explores the political and economic organization of Angkor Borei
through use of archaeological survey, excavation, low-altitude remote-sensing, and the
examination of archaeological collections.
Contributions of the UH Cambodia Project
By increasing the visibility of Angkor Borei through this project, we hope to heighten
public commitment to preserving the Cambodian archaeological heritage. The UH
Cambodia Project researchers work actively with staff and students from both the
National Museum of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Royal University of Fine Arts.
Our hope is that the UH Cambodia Project might also help to stem rampant vandalism at
the region's largest and most important archaeological sites. Long-term plans include a
commitment to work with the University of Fine Arts and the National Museum in
Phnom Penh on developing a collections' repository and a local museum that will serve as
a showcase for the region's ancient history in the modern town of Angkor Borei.
Multidisciplinary research on the Lower Mekong region will indubitably contribute to our
knowledge of a geographic area that interests a wide variety of scholars. But an equally
important contribution of the UH Cambodia Project lies in its emphasis on training the
next generation of Southeast Asian archaeologists. Khmer students who are participating
in the project are the future researchers and administrators of Cambodia's archaeology
faculty as well as the Angkor Conservancy. The UH Cambodia Project provides one
model for collaborative research and international training in Southeast Asian
archaeology. Our hope is that future programmes will benefit from, and improve upon,
lessons learned from this programme at the University of Hawai'i.
We encourage inquiries regarding the UH Cambodia Project and are willing to consider other collaborators for its research and training programmes. Please contact either of the project co-directors mentioned below.
Dr Miriam Stark or Dr P. Bion Griffin
Department of Anthropology
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
2424 Maile Way
Porteus 346
Honolulu HI 96822
USA
Email: "miriams@hawaii.edu" or "griffin@hawaii.edu"