Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The ties that bind: archaeometallurgical typology of architectural crampons as a method for reconstructing the iron economy of Angkor, Cambodia (tenth to thirteenth c.)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The dynamic technological characteristics and diverse cultural potential of iron make it one of the most influential materials for facilitating cultural transformation. Reconstructing how iron was managed is an important way to understand political and socioeconomic issues in pre-modern state-level societies. In contrast to studies of smelting sites, the study of iron objects allows us to evaluate trends of production in relation to practice of consumption. By investigating a given class of iron objects, it is possible to document shifts in technical processes, cultural choices, and social organisation that are representative of a state or polities broader iron economy. This study outlines the use of comprehensive archaeometallurgical typology, a new approach combining technological, chronological, and “sourcing” analyses of iron architectural crampons from the Khmer capital of Angkor (ninth to fifteenth c. CE) in Cambodia. Our methodology was implemented on 69 iron crampons from three masonry complexes (the Royal Palace, Baphuon, and Preah Khan) spanning the tenth to thirteenth centuries. Compiling a vast and statistically significant data set enables us to identify diachronic changes of production and manufacturing patterns that seem to be linked to key periods of expansion of the Khmer Empire. These patterns represent the first phase in reconstructing the iron economy of the most influential polities in mainland Southeast Asia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bauvais S, Schwab R, Brauns M, Dillmann P (2011) Circulation of iron products in the Iron Age of Eastern France and Southern Germany: multidisciplinary and methodological approaches towards the provenance of ancient iron. Metalla Sonderheft 4:95–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Baxter MJ (2006) A review of supervised and unsupervised pattern recognition in archaeometry. Archaeometry 48:671–694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berranger M, Fluzin P (2012) From raw iron to semi-product: quality and circulation of materials during the Iron Age in France. Archaeometry 54:664–684. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2011.00641.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blakelock E, Martino-Torres M, Veldhuijzen H, Young T (2009) Slag inclusions in iron objects and the quest for provenance: an experiment and a case study. J Archaeol Sci 36:1745–1757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruguier B (1991) Sur quelques procédés de liaison utilisés dans l'architecture cambodgienne ancienne. Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrème-Orient 78:179–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchwald VF, Wivel H (1998) Slag analysis as a method for the characterization and provenancing of ancient iron objects. Mater Charact 40:73–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlton M, Blakelock E, Martinón-Torres M, Young T (2012) Investigating the production provenance of iron artifacts with multivariate methods. J Archaeol Sci 39:2280–2293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlton MF (2015) The last frontier in ‘sourcing’: the hopes, constraints and future for iron provenance research. J Archaeol Sci 56:210–220. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.02.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlton MF, Crew P, Rehren T, Shennan SJ (2010) Explaining the evolution of ironmaking recipes—an example from northwest Wales. J Anthropol Archaeol 29:352–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childe VG (1950) The urban revolution. Town Plan Rev 21:3–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coedès G (1954) Inscriptions du Cambodge vol VI. Textes et documents sur l'Indochine. E. de Boccard, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Collis J (1984) Oppida: earliest towns north of the Alps. Dept. of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield

    Google Scholar 

  • Collis J (2010) Why do we still dig iron age ramparts? In: Fichtl S (ed) Murus Celticus. Architecture et fonction des ramparts de l'âge du Fer. Actes du colloque de Bibracte, à Glux-sur-Glenne les 11 et 12 octobre 2006. Bibracte, vol 19. Bibracte, Centre Archéologique Européen, Glux-sur-Glenne, pp 27–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Costin CL (1991) Craft specialization: issues in defining, documenting, and explaining the organisation of production. Archaeol Method Theory 3:1–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Costin CL (2005) The study of craft production. In: Maschner HDG, Chippindale C (eds) Handbook of methods in archaeology, vol 1. AltaMira Press, Lanham, pp 1032–1105

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunin O (2004) De Ta Prohm au Bayon, Analyse comparative de l'histoire architecturale des principaux monuments du style du Bayon. Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine

  • Dillmann P, L'Héritier M (2007) Slag inclusion analyses for studying ferrous alloys employed in French medieval buildings: supply of materials and diffusion of smelting processes. J Archaeol Sci 34:1810–1823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinsmoor WB (1922) Structural iron in Greek architecture. Archaeol Inst Am 26:148–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Disser A, Dillmann P, Bourgain C, L'Héritier M, Vega E, Bauvais S, Leroy M (2014) Iron reinforcements in Beauvais and Metz Cathedrals: from bloomery or finery? The use of logistic regression for differentiating smelting processes. J Archaeol Sci 42:315–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Disser A, Dillmann P, Leroy M, L'Héritier M, Bauvais S, Fluzin P (2016) Iron supply for the building of Metz cathedral: new methodological development for provenance studies and historical considerations. Archaeometry 59:493–510. doi:10.1111/arcm.12265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dumarçay J, Royère P (2001) Cambodian architecture eighth to thirteenth centuries. M. Smithies, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans D (2007) Putting Angkor on the map: a new survey of a Khmer ‘Hydraulic City’ in historical and theoretical context University of Sydney

  • Evans D, Pottier C, Fletcher R, Hensley S, Tapley I, Milne A, Barbetti M (2007) A comprehensive archaeological map of the world’s largest preindustrial settlement complex at Angkor, Cambodia. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:14277–14282. doi:10.1073/pnas.0702525104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fluzin P, Berranger M, Bauvais S, Pagès G, Dillmann P (2012) An archaeological and archaeometrical approach of ferrous semi-product: typology, quality and circulation. In: Constanza C (ed) Acta Mineraria et Metallurgia, Studi in onore di Marco Tizzoni, vol 20. Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi, Bergame, pp 195–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Galili E, Bauvais S, Rosen B, Dillmann P (2015) Cargoes of iron semi-products recovered from shipwrecks off the Carmel coast, Israel. Archaeometry 57:505–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groslier BP (2014) Fouilles du palais royal d'Angkor Thom. Campagne 1958. Rapport préliminaire vol 33

  • Groslier G (ed) (1921) Recherches sur les Cambodgiens d'après les textes et les monuments depuis les premiers siècles de notre ère. Augustin Challamel, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedges REM, Salter C (1979) Source determination of iron currency bars through the analysis of slag inclusions. Archaeometry 21:161–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendrickson M, Leroy S, Hua Q, Phon K, Voeun V (2017a) Smelting in the shadow of the Iron Mountain: preliminary field investigation of the industrial landscape around Phnom Dek, Cambodia (9th to 20th centuries CE). Asian Perspectives

  • Hendrickson M, Pryce TO, Sonnemann T, Phon K, Hua Q (2017b) Industries of Angkor Project: preliminary investigation of iron production at Boeng Kroam, Preah Khan of Kompong Svay Siksacakr: Journal of Cambodia Research

  • Hørst-Madsen L, Buchwald VF (1999) The characterisation and provenancing of ore, slag and iron from the Iron Age settlement in Snorup. J Hist Metall Soc 33:57–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hruby ZX, Flad RK (2007) Rethinking craft specialization in complex societies: archaeological analyses of the social meaning of production. Archaeological papers of the American Anthropological Association, vol 17. University of California Press, American Anthropological Association, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Im S (2011) Ancient iron industry project at Khvao: the Excavation Campaign 2010 and Preliminary Report. Paper presented at the 20th ICC Technical Meeting, Siem Reap, Cambodia. June 8-9

  • Jacques C, Freeman M (1999) Ancient Angkor. Riverbooks guides

  • Keller CM, Keller JD (1996) Cognition and tool use. The blacksmith at work. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kyritsis-Spinoulas M, Vangelatos, Z., Vassilou, P., Manolakos, D., Delagrammatikas, M., Papadopoulou, O. (2016) Steel clamps form the Acropolis: some old, some new and some digital. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Corrosion Mitigation and Surface Protection Technologies Steigenberger hotel - Luxor, Egypt, 11-18 December

  • L'Heritier M, Dillmann P, Aumard S, Fluzin P (2013) Iron? Which iron? Methodologies for metallographic and slag inclusion studies applied to ferrous reinforcements from Auxerre Cathedral. In: Humphris J, Rehren T (eds) The world of iron. Archetype Publications, London, pp 409–420

    Google Scholar 

  • L'Héritier M, Dillmann P, Benoit P (2010) Iron in the building of gothic churches: its role, origins and production using evidence from Rouen and Troyes. Hist Metall 44:21–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemmonier P (2010) L'Etude des systèmes techniques. Tech Cult 54-55:46–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemonnier P (1986) The study of material culture today: toward an anthropology of technical systems. J Anthropol Archaeol 5:147–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leroi-Gourhan A (1943) Evolution et techniques. L’homme et la matière. Sciences d’aujourd’hui. Albin Michel, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Leroy S et al (2012) The medieval iron market in Ariège (France). Multidisciplinary analytical approach and multivariate analyses. J Archaeol Sci 39:1080–1093. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.11.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leroy S, Hendrickson M, Delqué-Kolic E, Vega E, Dillmann P (2015a) First direct dating for the construction and modification of the Baphuon Temple Mountain in Angkor, Cambodia. PLoS One 10:e0141052. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141052

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leroy S, L'Héritier M, Delqué-Kolic E, Dumoulin J-P, Moreau C, Dillmann P (2015b) Consolidation or initial design? Radiocarbon dating of ancient iron alloys sheds light on the reinforcements of French Gothic Cathedrals. J Archaeol Sci 53:190–201. doi:10.1016/j.Jas.2014.10.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Living Angkor Road Project (2008) Living Angkor Road Project Phase II Progressive Report, October 2007–March 2008. Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Nakon Nayok

    Google Scholar 

  • Nafilyan G (1969) Angkor Vat, description graphique du temple. Publications de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Mémoire archéologique; 4. Ècole française d'Extrême-Orient A. Maisonneuve, Paris

  • Pagès G (2008) La métallurgie du fer en France méditerranéenne de l’Antiquité au début du Moyen Âge: jalons d’une approche interdisciplinaire. Thèse de doctorat, Université Montpellier III – Paul-Valéry

  • Pagès G, Dillmann P, Fluzin P, Long L (2011) A study of the roman iron bars of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône, France). A proposal for a comprehensive metallographic approach. J Archaeol Sci 38:1234–1252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paynter S (2006) Regional variations in bloomery smelting slag of the Iron Age and Romano-British periods. Archaeometry 48:271–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pottier C (1999) Carte Archéologique de la Région d'Angkor. Zone Sud

  • Pryce TO et al (2014) The Iron Kuay of Cambodia: tracing the role of peripheral populations in Angkorian to colonial Cambodia via a 1200-year old industrial landscape. J Archaeol Sci 47:142–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramsey CB, Lee S (2013) Recent and planned developments of the program OxCal. Radiocarbon 55:3–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royère P (1999) Programme de restauration du Bapùon. A propos d'une occupation tardive du monument. Arts Asiatiques 54:153–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royère P (2006) Notes architecturales relatives à la construction du Baphuon à Angkor. Les Indes Savantes:245–273

  • Shortman EM, Urban PA (2004) Modelling the roles of craft production in ancient political economies. J Archaeol Res 12:185–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thuy C (2014) Iron and stone. Ancient Khmer. Royal Academy of Cambodia, Phnom Penh

    Google Scholar 

  • Tosi M (1984) The notion of craft specialization and its representation in the archaeological record of early states in the Turanian basin. In: Spriggs M (ed) Marxist approaches in archaeology. Cambridge university press, Cambridge, pp 22–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Varoufakis GJ (2012) The rapid development of technology in making iron clamps of three ancient temples in the Archaic and Classical Period. J Chem Chem Eng 6:1136–1141

    Google Scholar 

  • Verna C (2001) Le temps des Moulines. Fer, technique et société dans les Pyrénées centrales (XIIIe–XVIe siècles). Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner DB (2001) The administration of the iron industry in eleventh-century China. J Econ Soc Hist Orient 44:175–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner DB (2008) Science and civilization in China. Volume 5. Chemistry and chemical technology. Part II: ferrous metallurgy. Vol 5. Science and civilization in China. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Wailes B (1996) V. Gordon Childe and the relations of production. In: Wailes B (ed) Craft specialization and social evolution: in memory of V. Gordon Childe. University museum monograph, vol 93. The University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, pp 3–14

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funding for this project was provided by the French National Research Agency (IRANGKOR project, ANR-14-CE31-0007) and the Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant (DP0987878). This project is indebted to several institutions including the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (Royal Palace), the Authority for the Protection and Safeguarding of Angkor Region Authority (APSARA), the World Monuments Fund (Preah Khan), and the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (Baphuon). We acknowledge the LMC14 team for the radiocarbon measurements. Thanks to Philippe Dillmann (LAPA-IRAMAT/NIMBE, CEA/CNRS, Saclay) and reviewers for the stimulating exchanges and remarks.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LAPA-IRAMAT, NIMBE, CEA, CNRS, CEA Saclay, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    S. Leroy, S. Bauvais, E. Vega, T. Blanchet & A. Disser

  2. University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA

    M. Hendrickson

  3. LSCE-LMC14, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    E. Delque-Kolic

Authors
  1. S. Leroy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Hendrickson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. Bauvais
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. E. Vega
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. T. Blanchet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. A. Disser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. E. Delque-Kolic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Leroy.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 658 kb)

ESM 2

(DOCX 16 kb)

ESM 3

(DOCX 244 kb)

ESM 4

(PDF 671 kb)

ESM 5

(DOCX 649 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Leroy, S., Hendrickson, M., Bauvais, S. et al. The ties that bind: archaeometallurgical typology of architectural crampons as a method for reconstructing the iron economy of Angkor, Cambodia (tenth to thirteenth c.). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 10, 2137–2157 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0524-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0524-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation