Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Origin of the Khmers
Like many legends, the one about the origin of Cambodia is historically opaque, but it does
say something about the cultural forces that brought Cambodia into existence, in particular
its relationship with its great subcontinental neighbour, India. Cambodia's religious, royal
and written traditions stemmed from India and began to coalesce as a cultural entity in their
own right between the 1st and 5th centuries AD.
Cambodia's Funan-period trading port of Oc-Eo, now located in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, was a
major commercial crossroads between Asia and Europe, and archaeologists there have un-
earthed Roman coins and Persian pottery.
Very little is known about prehistoric Cambodia. Much of the southeast was a vast, shal-
low gulf that was progressively silted up by the mouths of the Mekong, leaving pancake-
flat, mineral-rich land ideal for farming. Evidence of cave-dwellers has been found in the
northwest of Cambodia, and carbon dating on ceramic pots found in the area shows that
they were made around 4200 BC. Examinations of bones dating back to around 1500 BC
suggest that the people living in Cambodia at that time resembled the Cambodians of today.
Early Chinese records report that the Cambodians were 'ugly' and 'dark' and went about
naked. A healthy dose of scepticism may be required, however, when reading the reports of
imperial China concerning its 'barbarian' neighbours.
Cambodia's turbulent past is uncovered in a series of articles, oral histories and photos in an
excellent website called Beauty and Darkness: Cambodia, the Odyssey of the Khmer People
.
Find it at
www.mekong.net/cambodia
.
