* Martin Polkinghorne (Flinders University), Janet G. Douglas (Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution), Federico Carò (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 101 (2015), p. 55-90 1. This research was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant (DP110101968). Project collaborators include the APSARA National Authority, the École française d’Extrême-Orient, the National Museum of Cambodia, The Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art / Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the University of Sydney Robert Christie Research Centre in Siem Reap. We extend our appreciation to H. E. Bun Narith, H. E. Tan Boun Suy, H. E. Ros Borath, Mao Lor, Tin Tina, An Sopheap, Chhay Rachna, Chea Socheat, Siyonn Sophearith, Oung Savanna, So Malay, and Damian Evans. Thanks to Christophe Pottier who offered invaluable advice. AMS 14C analysis was made possible through an Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Research Award (ALNGRA13009) and conducted by Quan Hua and Geraldine Jacobsen of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The authors recognize the assistance of Kim Sokkhin and staff of the Conservation d’Angkor, and Thierry Zéphir and Pierre Baptiste of the musée Guimet. Special thanks to the fieldwork team : Hou Nolamony, Suy Pov, Hen Chenda, Sally MacLennan, students from the Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, and dedicated workers.
2. G. Groslier 1921-1923 : 206-208 ; B. P. Groslier 1969 : 29-30 ; Pichard 1974 : 126-127 ; Polkinghorne 2007a, 2007b, 2008.
3. Vincent 2012, Vincent et al. 2012, Polkinghorne et al. 2014.
4. Uchida et al. 2007, Rocks 2009, Uchida & Shimoda 2013.
Carving at the Capital: A stone workshop at Hariharālaya, Angkor
Martin Polkinghorne, Janet G. Douglas, Federico Carò *
Among the first questions that visitors and scholars ask of Angkor is: How was it made? Considerable resources were invested in the production of temples and sculptures, but surprisingly, studies that consider the operational characteristics of Angkorian builders and artisans have been no more than partial. 1 Some focused on bas-reliefs and architectural ornamentation from a small selection of monuments. 2 Others have examined the manufacturing techniques of finished sculptures. 3 A recent set of studies has begun to consider the locations of sandstone quarries that supplied building materials for the temples. 4 Another path is to appraise production as a major economic activity in terms of craft specialisation. Can we identify the workers, artisans and workshops that built and furnished shrines across Angkor and the Khmer lands? To what degree were they directed by a political elite? Can we specify the locations and methods for acquisition of raw materials and distribution of finished products? And how did all of this change over space and time? In 2011 a collaborative excavation and materials analysis team initiated archaeological research aimed at investigating sites of artistic production and this paper presents the resulting investigation of a sandstone dumping and production centre, analysis of associated material samples, and propositions about temple and sculpture manufacture at Angkor. The research focuses on production at Hariharālaya, a major urban centre and focus of regional political authority between the 8th and 9th centuries, a reputed settlement of the so-called founder of the Angkorian Empire, Jayavarman II (r. ca. 770 – ca. 830 CE), and precursor to the city of Yaśodharapura approximately 15 km to the northeast,
