|
Young World
Fall of a civilisation
COMPILED BY ROHINI RAMAKRISHNAN
Photo: AFP
The Angkor Wat temple: The heart of Cambodia’s identity.
Cambodia’s long-lost temple complex of Angkor is the world’s largest known pre-industrial settlement, reveals a new radar study that found 74 new temples and more than a thousand manmade ponds at the site. But urban sprawl and its associated environmental devastation may have led to the collapse of the kingdom, which includes the renowned temple of Angkor Wat, the study suggests. Ever since the late 16th century, when Portuguese traders spied the towers of the
monument poking through a dense canopy of trees, people have puzzled over the demise of the Angkor civilisation. Now a new archaeological map created using jungle-penetrating radar has revealed traces of vast suburban sprawl surrounding the many temples and the walled central city of Angkor Thom. Extensive waterworks threaded through the low-density development, channelling the flow of three rivers through agricultural fields, homes, and local temples. In the end, residents of greater Angkor likely struggled with the ecological consequences of transforming the landscape. The new survey found breached spillways and canals clogged with silt, suggesting that environmental degradation made the infrastructure increasingly difficult to maintain.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Young World
|
