2022 Archaeological Excavations at Prasat Khnar, Cambodia

From April 14 to May 30, 2022, Dominique Soutif conducted an excavation campaign at Prasat Khnar site (Preah Vihear province, Cambodia).

This project is part of the Yaçodharâçrama archaeological program (MAEE, ERC Dharma; Chea Socheat, APSARA, Julia Estève, ITK/ISIC, Bangkok, Dominique Soutif and Edward Swenson, University of Toronto). It was carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia (Mr. Mao Vy and Mr. Moung Chansey) and included several international participants : Giles Morrow (postdoctoral fellow, Vanderbilt University) ; Christopher Wai (PhD Student, University of Toronto), Stephen Berquist (PhD) and Chloé Chollet (PhD Student, EPHE-PSL/EFEO, DHARMA project).

Work in progress at Prasat Khnar.

It was a following of the first excavation campaign conducted in 2020 at Prasat Khnar, which could not be continued in 2021 because of the Covid-19 epidemic. While the objectives of the previous campaign have still been pursued (i.e. to understand the connections between the temple and the two āśrama, “monasteries”, erected in the vicinity of the site), this year’s mission was also intended to identify the earliest constructions and occupation of the site.