Cambodia

Neolithic peoples inhabited present-day Cambodia during the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. Stone tools have been found in terraces of the Mekong River in possible association with tektites from a shower that fell c 600,000 to 700,000 years ago. In western Cambodia there is an important Hoabinhian sequence from the cave of Laang Spean dating to 4300 BC. A major Neolithic mound site at Somrong Sen yielded elaborate assemblage which seems to predate 100 BC. Khmer civilization developed over several distinct periods, starting with the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Funan and Chenla in the 1st century AD, which extended into the 8th century.

[present-day Kampuchea]. Prehistory. Lying between Thailand and Vietnam on the Southeast Asian mainland, Cambodia has important remains of both the prehistoric and historic periods. Stone tools have been found in terraces of the Mekong River in possible association with tektites from a shower that fell c600,000 to 700,000 years ago. In western Cambodia there is an important Hoabinhian sequence from the cave of Laang Spean, with cord-marked and incised pottery in upper levels by 4300 be. The major Neolithic site is the 4.5 metre-thick occupation mound at Somrong Sen near the Tonle Sap lake, which has produced an elaborate assemblage which seems to predate 1000 be. A number of Dong-son drums and bronze assemblages have also been found in the country. Classical. In spite of its relative distance from India, it was on the Indochinese Peninsula that the earliest known Indianized kingdom developed, that of Funan. From small beginnings in the 1st century ad somewhere on the Lower Mekong it rapidly became the leading power of the region, with far-reaching trade connections. In the 6th century Funan declined; it was succeeded in its eastern part, corresponding to present Cambodia, southern Laos and southern Vietnam, by its former vassal Chenla, while other former possessions became independent. Chenla in turn ceased to exist when, after having become a Javanese vassal in the late 8th century, the independent Khmer kingdom of Angkor was declared in 802. This kingdom developed once again into the most powerful state on the Indochinese Peninsula, at its apogee in the early 13th century occupying all but the most northeastern parts (the newly independent state of Vietnam) and most western parts (Pagan), as well as much of the Malay Peninsula. The decline of the Angkorian empire was heralded by the achievement of independence of Sukhothai in the middle of the 13th century, accentuated by the establishment of the kingdom of Ayutthaya in 1350 and consummated by the conquest of Angkor by the Thais in 1431. See also Dvàravatï, Oc-Èo, Vyâdhapura.