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Spatial Configurations of Water Management at an Early Angkorian Capital – Combining GPR and TerraSAR‐X Data to Complement an Archaeological Map
Author(s) -
Sonnemann Till Frieder
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
archaeological prospection
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.785
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1099-0763
pISSN - 1075-2196
DOI - 10.1002/arp.1502
Subject(s) - ground penetrating radar , archaeology , geology , shore , remote sensing , excavation , geography , radar , computer science , telecommunications , oceanography
Hariharalaya was a medieval political centre of the eighth–ninth century ce , located on the northern shore of Lake Tonle Sap in Cambodia. Mapped in detail in the 1990s by means of aerial photographs and ground surveys, more recently ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) and high‐resolution satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) were applied to further interpret this complex archaeological landscape. In combination with remote sensing imagery, the two radiofrequency‐based imaging techniques were used to complement the existing archaeological maps. The area housed an extensive low‐density urban complex of earthen mounds and ponds, approximately 5 × 5 km square and centring on the Bakong, an early Angkorian state temple, crossed and encircled by a mostly disconnected water‐management network of embankments and canals. Extensive GPR surveys, conducted predominantly on the existing small roads and paths criss‐crossing the landscape, appraise the visible archaeological features with subsurface information. The analysis verifies the existence of channels and embankments, complementing the information with depth and width. The identification of additional, now desiccated, canals and river channels assisted in connecting a number of already mapped archaeological features, and helped to distinguish possible later additions, thereby untangling the water‐management network. Spotlight TerrSAR‐X satellite data together with satellite images of the visual spectrum complemented the analysis, by providing information about water saturation in areas inaccessible to ground surveys, marking out palaeochannels and providing clues about the landscape before development took place. This three‐dimensional interpretation informs on the functioning of this particular early Angkorian hydraulic system, adding to the understanding of water management in medieval Southeast Asia. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.