• Can inscriptions help reconstruct how a kingdom expanded across a landscape?

King Citrasena (Chitrasen, later known as Mahendravarman) ruled Chenla in the late 6th to early 7th centuries, during a period when Chenla’s influence was extending across parts of what are now Cambodia, Laos and northeastern Thailand. His reign is known partly through inscriptions recording religious foundations, royal achievements and other acts of authority. 

Pailoplee and Khatshima map 21 inscriptions from at least 19 locations associated with Citrasena, and asked if people were moving between these places, which routes would they have taken? To explore this, they use Least Cost Path (LCP) modelling in a GIS. LCP calculates routes that minimise the “cost” of movement across terrain.

In archaeology, this can help identify plausible corridors shaped by features such as slopes, river valleys and mountain barriers. These models show how movement could have been structured by the landscape under the assumptions of the model.

Across several scenarios, the reconstructed paths repeatedly concentrate around major river systems—especially the Mun River—and particular passes through the Phnom Dong Rek (Dangrek) mountain range. The authors also compare the modelled network with archaeological sites attributed to Citrasena’s period, many of which fall along these reconstructed corridors.

Where river navigation would have been difficult (such as the Khone Phapheng Falls), the authors propose that Citrasena’s forces may instead have moved overland along riverbanks, using waterways as natural guides through the landscape.

The placement of several inscriptions near river confluences also suggests that these locations may have been important for controlling movement, communication and exchange, not simply access to water.

Reference
Pailoplee, S. & Khatshima, K. 2026. “The role of King Chitrasen (Mahendravarman) in the expansion of the Chenla Kingdom: A study of inscriptions and historical geography.” Social Sciences & Humanities Open 14, 103503.
10.1016/j.ssaho.2026.103503

#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Cambodia #Thailand #Laos #Chenla
  • Sometimes the biggest archaeological questions depend on evidence we cannot see during excavation.

Microarchaeology investigates archaeological deposits at microscopic and microstratigraphic scales. In Southeast Asia, this can be especially valuable because monsoonal wetness, tropical weathering, intensive land use and complex depositional histories can affect how archaeological evidence survives. 

Researchers can examine the surrounding sediment for traces of past activity and later disturbance. Methods discussed in this new paper include sediment micromorphology, laboratory micro-excavation, high-resolution imaging, FTIR microscopy and SEM-EDS. Depending on the context, microscopic evidence can help identify burning, trampling, plant processing, sediment movement and environmental change. 

The importance of that context is illustrated by work in northern Laos. At Tam Ngu Hao 2, microstratigraphy was used alongside lithological observations and dating to establish the stratigraphic context of Denisovan fossil evidence. At Tam Pà Ling, it has shown potential for investigating environmental seasonality and possible patterns of early modern human presence. These methods help archaeologists understand what happened to a deposit before drawing conclusions from what it contains.
 
The paper also introduces the Australian Microarchaeology and Palaeosciences Facility (AusMAP) and argues for greater collaboration, training and locally based microarchaeological expertise across Southeast Asia. 

Reference:
Hernandez et al. 2026. Scaling down to look further back: Southeast Asia, deep-time science and microarchaeology. SPAFA Journal 10.
10.26721/spafajournal.651369a4y8 

#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Archaeology #Microarchaeology #Geoarchaeology #ArchaeologicalScience
  • This week on Southeast Asian Archaeology: claims, contexts and careful reading.⠀
⠀
With Malaysia’s National Day, Vietnam’s National Day, Timor-Leste’s Popular Consultation Day, and International Literacy Day all close together, I’m thinking about literacy not just as reading words, but reading evidence: museum labels, old spellings, dates, maps, artefacts, archives, and the occasional viral post with a raised eyebrow.⠀
⠀
The catalyst this week is the recent controversy over historical claims in Malaysia, alongside a timely RSIS piece on how historians, archaeologists, archivists, librarians and curators can help push back against disinformation. Not by attacking people, but by helping everyone ask better questions of the past.⠀
⠀
Also in this week’s issue: Penang’s historical Malay spellings, Cambodia’s new artefact database grant, Singapore’s revised History Gallery, UNESCO’s maritime museum project, new research on Sundadonty, Roti Island, Chenla inscriptions, ancient Myanmar, and more.⠀
⠀
Link in bio.⠀
⠀
#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Archaeology #Heritage #InformationLiteracy
  • How old are the rock paintings of Mainland Southeast Asia? 🎨🪨

A new study from Mangguan in Yunnan, southwestern China, provides another important piece of the puzzle.

Using uranium-thorium dating, researchers analysed tiny calcite deposits that had formed over the paintings. Because the calcite must be younger than the pigment underneath, the dates provide a minimum age for the art. One deposit covering a human figure shows that the painting was already there at least 4,220 years ago.

Mangguan is particularly interesting because it lies only about 15 km from the better-known Cangyuan rock art complex. The two have stylistic similarities and overlapping dates, suggesting they formed part of a broader regional rock art tradition, a comparison can be taken farther south.

The rock paintings at Pha Taem in Luang Prabang, Laos, have previously been compared with Cangyuan, raising intriguing questions about relationships between the rock art traditions of southwestern China and Mainland Southeast Asia.

Most rock art in Mainland Southeast Asia remains poorly dated, so dates like those from Mangguan give us increasingly useful chronological anchors for thinking about these connections.

References:
Wu, Y. et al. 2026. U-Th dating of rock paintings in southwestern China: minimum age of ~4.2 ka BP at the Mangguan site. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 74, 105987. DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105987.

Bo, X. 2020. On the relationship between the Cangyuan rock art in Yunnan, China, and the Pha Taem rock art in Laos. Rock Art Research 37(2).

Tan, N.H. 2018. The Cliff Paintings of Pha Taem, Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. Rock Art Research 35(1).

#RockArt #SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Yunnan #China
  • Extraordinary claims about the past can be exciting. But how do we tell an exciting new hypothesis from pseudoarchaeology?

Recent controversy in Malaysia over claims that ancient Malays taught the Romans shipbuilding provides a useful case study. Rather than piling on the person behind the claims, I think there is a more useful question to ask: how would we actually test an idea like this?

Archaeology gives us some simple tools.

Do the dates work? What is the primary evidence? Does the evidence actually demonstrate the connection being claimed? Are there better explanations? And perhaps most importantly: what evidence would make us reject the hypothesis?

Ancient Southeast Asians really were sophisticated seafarers. Srivijaya really was one of Asia’s great maritime powers. Sungai Batu really does preserve remarkable evidence for early iron production.

None of those achievements needs embellishment to make Southeast Asian archaeology extraordinary.

Swipe through for five questions you can use the next time you encounter an astonishing claim about the ancient past.

🚩 Remember: possibility is not evidence, similarity does not necessarily mean transmission, and extraordinary claims still have to survive ordinary archaeological scrutiny.

Read more about the archaeology behind these claims in this week’s Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsletter.

#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Pseudoarchaeology #Malaysia #MaritimeArchaeology #MediaLiteracy
  • A 4,000-year-old painted stone from Wetar Island may change how we understand the Austronesian story.⠀
⠀
Archaeologists excavating Huknaur 1 in Southeast Indonesia found a painted plaque with a red sun-ray motif linked to the Austronesian Painting Tradition — a wider visual tradition known from eastern Indonesia and nearby islands.⠀
⠀
What makes this find so important is that the plaque appears to be older than the first pottery at the site. That means a shared symbolic tradition may have been present before the full Neolithic package usually associated with Austronesian expansion. This discovery suggests that ideas, symbols, and identity may have travelled ahead of pottery.⠀
⠀
It is a reminder that the spread of people goes beyond tools, crops, or ceramics, and may also have been about belief, belonging, and a shared visual language carried across the sea.⠀
⠀
Swipe through to see why this small object has such big implications.⠀
⠀
Reference:⠀
O’Connor, S., Kealy, S., Kaharudin, H.A.F., et al. (2026). 4000-year-old painted plaque from Southeast Indonesia reveals Austronesian Painting Tradition preceded Neolithic pottery. PNAS 123(34): e2611580123.⠀
⠀
#SoutheastAsianArchaeology #RockArt #Austronesian #Indonesia #Wetar #SoutheastAsia #IslandSoutheastAsia #AustronesianPaintingTradition
  • Plaques, Ponds and Provenance⠀
⠀
This week’s newsletter begins with a 4,000-year-old painted plaque from Wetar Island — a small object with a big story.⠀
⠀
The plaque carries a red sun-like motif linked to the Austronesian Painting Tradition, and it appears before pottery at the site. That suggests visual symbols and shared ideas may have moved through maritime Southeast Asia before some of the usual archaeological markers we associate with Austronesian expansion.⠀
⠀
Also this week: archaeology beneath Angkor’s Sras Srang, suspected Ban Chiang artefacts offered for return from Switzerland, and more heritage news from across the region.⠀
⠀
Link in bio.
  • How do you make a 3-metre stone stand upright for centuries?

At Hintang in northern Laos, archaeologists are beginning to answer that question.

In 2025, a Lao-Australian team excavated Site 7A — the first excavation at a Hintang standing-stone site in around 90 years. Beneath the surface, they found that the stones had been set deeply into pits, with smaller rocks packed around their bases to stabilise them. Roughly one-third of each standing stone was buried underground.

One big question remains, though — how old are the Hintang stones?

Samples were collected for dating, but those results are still being analysed. So, for now, we understand a little more about how these monuments were built.

📖 Shewan, L., O’Reilly, D., Armstrong, B. & Butphachit, A. (2026). “Surveys of Hintang standing stone sites and excavations at Site 7A, Houaphanh, Lao PDR.” Antiquity.
doi: 10.15184/aqy.2026.10408

#Archaeology #SoutheastAsianArchaeology #Laos #Megaliths #Hintang #AncientTechnology #ArchaeologicalResearch #Heritage #NewResearch
  • Angkor’s water system is famous for its scale: enormous reservoirs, long canals, and monumental engineering.⠀
⠀
New research by archaeologist Sarah Klassen highlights how Angkor’s agricultural system also depended on more than 1,000 local temple communities spread across the Greater Angkor Region. These communities helped organise labour, manage local water systems, and coordinate rice production - and suggests that Angkor’s success was built through a combination of top-down and bottom-up management.⠀
⠀
The state created the large hydraulic framework. Local communities adapted to it, expanded around it, and helped make the wider agricultural landscape function.⠀
⠀
Over time, however, this balance changed. Land and resources became increasingly concentrated, the system became more centralised, and some of the flexibility that had helped Angkor cope with earlier environmental stress may have been lost.⠀
⠀
Beyond its temples and kings, Angkor
  • New Evidence from the Southeast Asian Borderlands⠀
⠀
This week in Southeast Asian Archaeology: new dates, new methods, and some wonderfully untidy timelines.⠀
⠀
🪨 Uranium-thorium dating pushes the Mangguan rock paintings in Yunnan back to at least 4,220 years ago⠀
 🥁 AI-assisted restoration takes on damaged imagery on Guangxi bronze drums⠀
 🌾 New work at Angkor asks how infrastructure, local communities and water management shaped resilience⠀
 🗿 Lao-Australian fieldwork maps and excavates the enigmatic Hintang standing stones⠀
⠀
Plus archaeology and heritage news from across Southeast Asia, new research, opportunities, and more.⠀
⠀
I’ve also started experimenting with short visual explainers of new archaeology papers here on Instagram — so follow along if you like your archaeology with fewer footnotes and more pixels.⠀
⠀
Read the latest SEAArch newsletter via the link in bio.⠀
⠀
#Archaeology #SoutheastAsianArchaeology #SoutheastAsia #RockArt #Angkor #Laos #Yunnan #Heritage #ArchaeologicalResearch #DigitalHeritage
Sunday, September 6, 2026
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I’ve been running this blog for nearly six years now, but for most part I don’t know who my readers are! Over the last couple of years I’ve had interactions with a few of you, either in-person at conferences or over an email conversation.

So, for the first time, make yourself known! Leave a comment at the end of this post. Introduce yourself and what you do, and what you would like to see more of in this site. If you’re reading this on Facebook, you can comment directly on this post. If you are reading this via email, click on the title of this post (Who’s reading this blog?) to get sent to the website so that you can leave a comment here.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

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Comments 17

  1. NE Asia Archaeology says:
    15 years ago

    We read and enjoy the blog. We don’t comment on blogs for the most part because of the cumbersome sign-up/log-on stuff, though.

  2. erikwdavis says:
    15 years ago

    I read your blog – every post. I’m grateful for your blog, which, along with another, Cambodian blog – Alisonincambodia.wordpress.com, help keep me abreast of archaeological news and perspectives on Southeast Asia. Thank you!

  3. Doug Inglis says:
    15 years ago

    Thanks for blogging! I am an underwater archaeologist, graduate student @ Texas A&M, and blog when I can. I just came back from the 2011 Bach Dang River Survey in Vietnam, and we appreciated that you gave Tran Hung Dao a mention. I read your posts for ideas, news and inspiration. Thanks for posting on shipwrecks and maritime matters when you do! – Sorry for being one of the silent watchers.

  4. Damien Huffer says:
    15 years ago

    I read your blog! You know who I am 🙂 You’re always an excellent one to share news and info with, discuss research, dept goss, and thesis progress. See you at EurASEAA most likely.

  5. Caving Liz says:
    15 years ago

    Hi Noel….. I read your blog!! I’m always interested to see anything related to caves.

  6. Leedom says:
    15 years ago

    Noel – good to meet the “person behind the blog”, as we did yesterday.  Nice conversation and nice knowing you.  I’ll keep reading.   Best, Leedom

  7. Lim Chee Hon says:
    15 years ago

    Hi… I read your blog and I like it very much! I’m a IT guy based in Malaysia, although nothing to do with archeology, I got deep interest in South East Asia history.

  8. Repelsteekltje says:
    15 years ago

    hi, Im following this blog in my rss reader, I’m from the netherlands and 36 years old. I’m a programmer with an interest in archeology.

  9. Noel Hidalgo Tan says:
    15 years ago

    Thanks everybody for the introductions – on the comments feed, facebook and email. As I suspected, I have met many of you in person already, and still many more that I have not! Very pleased to meet you. =D

  10. Pino Striccoli says:
    15 years ago

    i often read the blog from Italy and someime i use ur posts on my blog

  11. rjhintz says:
    15 years ago

    Hi, I also read through Google Reader, though not always up to date, as with this posting and my tardy reply. I’m especially interested in mapping sites that are mentioned here on Google Maps using Map Maker.

    Thanks for this interesting resource!
    —
    Rich

  12. Netnapit Tasakorn says:
    15 years ago

    Hi, I read your blog through google reader linked with flipboard which I browse through on my iPhone or iPad. I live in Mexico, but originally from Thailand. I like knowing about old pots and maritime trade. Thanks for writing a great blog! I don’t blog much anymore but wrote a few posts related to Thai history. Well, I’m super fascinated about Banchiang and Sukhothai.

  13. Macullm says:
    15 years ago

    I am the volunteer coordinator for the Sarawak Museum in Kuching. Your site is fantastic.

  14. Noel Hidalgo Tan says:
    15 years ago

    Thank Thomas – that was a great internship report! I enjoyed reading about your time there and I’d like to highlight your report in a later post.

  15. Thomas Van Damme says:
    15 years ago

    I’m an archaeology student at the University of Ghent in Belgium, and one of my main interests lies in Asian archaeology, while my other passion is underwater archaeology! I lived in Cambodia for 4 years when I was young and did a 3 week archaeological internship at the East Gate (“Gate of the Dead”) of Angkor Thom last summer (http://www.scribd.com/doc/77068804/Excavating-the-Causeway-at-the-East-Gate-of-Angkor-Thom – 
    in case anyone is interested in the excavation/internship report).

    I don’t even remember how I found this site since I’ve been following it for so long – I have it faved and just check up on it every now and then when I have some spare time. I think it’s by far the best way to stay posted on archaeology in this region 😉 

  16. Thomas Van Damme says:
    15 years ago

    Haha thanks for the compliment Noel. Feel free to use my internship report any way you want 😉 

    To students still going to Angkor on archaeological internships I’d strongly suggest having local contacts beforehand, otherwise things might fall into place very slowly. Also for those who have to write a report (or who are just very engaged), be sure to consult the EFEO library at Siem Reap (
    http://www.efeo.fr/base.php?code=265 ). It might be a bit hard to find what you’re looking for but it’s well worth the effort in the end – the library houses thousands and thousands of old colonial excavation pictures and even detailed excavation reports from as far back as the early 1900s. 

  17. Anne-Sophie says:
    15 years ago

    Hi everybody!
    I am a French heritage conservator. I have recently passed my Master’s degree in Paris after doing trainings in Asia, especially in Hong-Kong and Cambodia at the National Museum in Phnom Penh. In the Ceramics Conservation Laboratory, I restored khmer archaeological ceramics. I really appreciated this internship and the life there and so I hope coming back one day to work with archaeologists and help them to preserve khmer artifacts.

    Many thanks for your blog! You give me so many ideas! 

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