Cambodia Pre-History

Khmer people were one of the first inhabitants of Southeast Asia. The oldest vestiges of Pre Historic Cambodia (stone made tools) were found in the cave of Laan Spean in Battambang and evidence that the cave was inhabited 6,000 years ago. Little is known about this period although it is commonly accepted that prehistoric men lived in caves, had basic skills such as the cultivation of rice or the domestication of animals and practised animism, worshipping both the spirits of the land and their ancestors. Other pre-historic sites have been found in Cambodia, such as Samrong Sen in central cambodia which was occupied in the 1500 B.C or Bas- Plateaux in Kompong Chang, occupied in the 2nd century BC.

This archaeological evidence shows that a Neolothic culture inhabited parts of Cambodia in the 1st and 2nd millenia B.C, although scholars disagree as to whether they migrated from souther China or from India. By the first century C.E there were relatively stable, organized societies along the coast and Mekong river delta, and they were far superior than the primitive societies. They worked metals such as iron and bronze and possesed navigation knowledge. Recently, circular earthworks dating to Cambodia's Neolithic era have been found.

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Map of earthworks in Cambodia and Vietnam.

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