Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

 

A team of archaeologists hope the discovery of a bronze foundry near the ancient site of Longvek will yield information about an era thought to be lost to history.

A footnote, a hunch and a land development project near Boeung Samrith led to the discovery this month of an ancient bronze foundry that served Cambodia’s 16th-century kings at Longvek.

 

The find in Kampong Chhnang province could yield insight into Cambodia’s Middle Period, the era between the fall of Angkor and the beginning of the French protectorate often called the “dark ages” because few records of it exist.

 

The discovery culminates a two-year search by a team of researchers led by Dr Martin Polkinghorne of Flinders University in Australia, whose first hint came from a footnote in the Cambodian Royal Chronicles, which were compiled centuries after the foundry’s existence. The chronicles mention that King An Chan I ordered that a dam be built just north of Oudong Mountain to create a pond next to the royal bronze foundry. The manuscripts identify the location as Boeung Samrith, which means “bronze lake” in Khmer.

 

READ THIS LONG REPORT HERE http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/team-digs-cambodias-dark-ages

 

 

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oh dear... hope they don't discover any more bad news about Thai history...