ABSTRACT

More than 60 million people rely on the Mekong River to support farming, fishing, and other livelihoods. The Mekong is the region’s rice bowl and a biodiversity hotspot; it is also a contested space now threatened by human and natural forces. A complex web of international agreements and a fully functioning multi-country Mekong River Commission have not prevented the construction of six hydroelectric dams in China, with more than ten major dams in the planning stage for Laos and Cambodia, and dozens more on its tributaries. These dams, and increasingly unpredictable rainfall, have already impacted Mekong River communities downstream, and the future promises to be even more bleak. What was life like before the dams? How did the Mekong River ecology shape the everyday life of its communities in the premodern world? What were some unexpected consequences of these daily practices, and how did communities and the state manage emerging problems? Archaeological research in Cambodia offers insights into major turning points in how Khmers managed the art of living along the Mekong River in the Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian worlds.

BIO

Prof. Miriam Stark is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She has held administrative roles in national and international disciplinary organizations, including the Society for American Archaeology, the Archaeological Institute of America, and the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association. Prof. Stark has received numerous grants from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Geographic Society, NASA Space Archaeology Program, and the Luce Foundation. She has conducted field-based research across Cambodia and currently directs the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Prof. Stark also serves on the Cultural Property Advisory Committee for the US State Department. Her archaeological research focuses on the political economy of ancient states. Her archaeological projects blend research with capacity-building for Khmer archaeologists and include heritage management in their long-term research designs. One of her most recent publications is a co-edited  collaboration with Mitch Hendrickson and Damian Evans entitled “The Angkorian World” (Routledge, 2023).