A preliminary report on the excavation of an Iron Age cemetery at Phum Snay, Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia, 2003

Phum Snay is a village located along National Route 6 in Preah eat Prey District, Banteay Meanchey Province, Northwest Cambodia (48P UTM 0305983/ 1506856 13"37'26.3" E1030 12'23.5") (Figure 1). The village of Snay is located on the edge of a large natural mound, three km in diameter. It is one of several small hamlets that exist on the edge of this hummock. The Preah Neat Prey River is located\ud approximately 100m to the west of the site. During 2000, roadwork was undertaken to link the village with National Route 6. This construction work revealed the presence of a number of inhumation burials. Unfortunately the discovery of burials led to the looting of the site by the villagers. Investigation proved the burials to be prehistoric, and they were associated with a great deal of material culture including bronzes and semiprecious stones. In order to save what little archaeological material remained at Phum\ud Snay excavations were undertaken in 2001. This work revealed a number of inhumation burials with associated grave goods