Airborne LiDAR prospection at Lovea, an Iron Age moated settlement in central Cambodia

Recent archaeological investigations and technological applications have increased our appreciation of the intricacies of pre-Angkorian societal development. The results reveal a transformative period characterised by increasing socio-political complexity, exchange and technological transfer, differences in burial wealth, growing levels of conflict and variation in site morphology. Among the excavated Iron Age sites in Cambodia, Lovea, near the heart of Angkor, is well placed to provide a greater understanding of these changes in this region. Excavation and remote sensing confirm that the two moats surrounding Lovea are testimony to the early adoption of water-management strategies. These strategies grew in complexity, culminating in the vast network of canals, reservoirs and tanks that are the hallmarks of the hydraulic society of Angkor.The authors would gratefully like to acknowledge the participation and acquiescence of the people of Phum Lovea, the APSARA Authority, including H.E. Bun Narith, H.E. Ros Borath, H.E. Mao Laor and especially our close collaborators, H.E. Tan Boun Soy, Tin Tina, An Sopheap, Kim Samnang, Im Sokrithy, Ea Darith, Chhay Rachna and Tho Thon, who made an invaluable contribution to this effort, and to the Government of Cambodia for their generous support and cooperation. We also thank the Australian Research Council for funding the research through the Discovery Grants programme, and we gratefully acknowledge the LiDAR data obtained by the KALC team. Thanks also go to our colleagues in the field including Suy Pov, Siang Lim, Marc Veerhoven, Var Inariddh, Cherryln Wong, Kasper Hanus, Georgia Roberts, Nang Sy, Andrew Ball and to the volunteers. Thanks also to the staff of the Robert Christie Research Center for their support, especially So Malay. We thank PT McElhanney Indonesia for their contribution to the LiDAR acquisition, and acknowledge support and funding from eight institutions of the Khmer Archaeology LiDAR Consortium: the APSARA National Authority, the University of Sydney, the École française d’Extrême-Orient, Société Concessionaire d’Aéroport, the Hungarian Southeast Asian Research Institute, Japan-APSARA Safeguarding Angkor, the Archaeology and Development Foundation and the World Monuments Fund