The evolution of agro-urbanism: A case study from Angkor, Cambodia

Angkor, Cambodia, stands as the world's most extensive pre-industrial settlement complex, with its low-density metropolitan area and higher-density civic-ceremonial center growing independently at different rates. This study reveals that both state-level policies and infrastructure, alongside bottom-up local organization, drove Angkor's expansion. By employing a unique fine-grained diachronic analysis of the landscape, researchers identified how these factors contributed to the site's evolution over time. The findings suggest that similar patterns may emerge in comparative studies of other agro-urban settlements in Mesoamerica and Asia.

Carter, A. K., Klassen, S., Stark, M. T., Polkinghorne, M., Heng, P., Evans, D., & Chhay, R. (2021). The evolution of agro-urbanism: A case study from Angkor, Cambodia. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 63, 101323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101323