SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

… the meanwhile edition. Meanwhile? Yes, while much of the focus this past two weeks have been about the inscribing of the new World Heritage sites (including George Town, Malacca and Preah Vihear), life goes on in other parts of Southeast Asia.

photo credit: RabunWarna
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When it comes to archaeological mysteries in Southeast Asia, the Plain of Jars is right up there on the list. (err, no… the human legs sticking out not included)

Plain baffling
The Star, 12 January 2008
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This Christmas edition of the Wednesday Rojak brings us to Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia for some ancient temples, royal architecture, hobbits and the Shan:

• Andy Brouwer features an article by Heritage Watch on Protecting Cambodia’s Treasures.
• Chris Miller sets poetry to Angkoran sculpture in When Sculpture was King.
• Matt brings us to Thailand’s royal palaces and monatery in Bangkok’s Royal Bling.
• Greg Laden blogs about a new paper published on our favourite Hobbit.
• Read an Indonesian article about the Majapahit-era shrine, Candi Bajangratu.
• Music blogger Deni Bonet spends a hot morning in Sukhothai.
• Andy (no relation to the previous Andy) reflects on the impermanence of Southeast Asian capitals in Moving Mueang.
• While in London, the New Mandala reports from a conference on the Shan people in Burma, with details of some archaeology papers presented there.

In this series of weekly rojaks (published on Wednesdays) I’ll feature other sites in the blogosphere that are of related to archaeology in Southeast Asia. Got a recommendation for the next Wednesday rojak? Email me!

A short blurb about a recent conference between archaeologists from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia: archaeologists strengthen cooperation
Vietnam Net Bridge, 12 December 2007
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24 October 2007 (Science Daily) - A report on the collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’s Ban Chiang Project and Laos’ Department of Museums and Archaeology and the results of the last few year’s work of surveying the area around the Mekong River for archaeological potential.

Filling In The Blanks Of Southeast Asian Prehistory

As archaeologists in the last half century have set about reconstructing the prehistory of Southeast Asia, data from one country—centrally located Laos—was conspicuously missing. Little archaeology has occurred in Laos since before World War II, and beginning in the mid-1970s, Laos shut its doors completely to outside researchers. International scholars had to content themselves with information from excavation and survey work mostly from neighboring Thailand.

That scenario is beginning to shift—and new data, as well as new collaborative relationships—may forever change our perspective on an area that was once considered a “backwater region” of human civilization.

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