2018 Field Season
Our first excavation field season near Prasat Basaet took place from May-July 2018 with funding from the Earthwatch Institute and the Australian Research Council. This season’s fieldwork focused on determining the nature and timing of residential occupation around Prasat Basaet temple. This is an extension of our previous fieldwork with the Greater Angkor Project (GAP).
Our field season began with informal survey of the area south of Prasat Basaet to identify areas for possible excavation. Discussions with locals and surface survey showed that there were numerous locations with both ceramics and animal bone eroding from the surface of mounds. These seemed like likely areas of occupation and we chose three locations to excavate 1x2 meter trenches (6 total).
Two trenches were dug to approximately 2.5m below the surface and we were able to identify habitation extending into the Pre-Angkorian (6-8th centuries CE) or perhaps even proto-historic (early first millennium CE) occupation. It appears there was continuous habitation near Prasat Basaet from the Pre-Angkorian through Angkorian periods, and perhaps later.
In addition to ceramics, we found numerous macrobotanical remains and animal bones. We also found evidence for metal working in the form of slag and small crucible fragments. These are aspects of life we aim to explore further in future field seasons.
Royal University of Fine Arts Students and Graduates
Since 1995, Miriam Stark has provided training opportunities for Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) archaeology students and graduates. Our 2018 field season continued this commitment to training for RUFA students and recent graduates. Students worked with Mr. Kompheak Seng on a variety of archaeological techniques including drawing sketch maps, excavation, and cutting back and drawing the wall profile of a fish pond within an ancient mound. Our future fieldwork will continue to provide opportunities for RUFA students and recent graduates.
Earthwatch Volunteers
Our 2018 field season also included over two dozen citizen scientist volunteers through the Earthwatch Institute!