| Abstract: |
Angkor was an agrarian city-landscape and its history is thus closely entwined in the diverse mosaic of vegetation communities that formed part of its urban fabric. An analytic consideration of Angkor’s ecological history, particularly its historical plant ecology, can reveal aspects of the city’s growth, function, and, particularly, its demise. We review the phytoecology of central Cambodia and consider the co-evolution or hybridisation of natural vegetation communities as Angkor emerged. A synthesis of palynological records from across Angkor provides a unique diachronic perspective on the historical ecology of Angkor, allowing us to visualise a domestic ecology at the landscape scale. Equally, shifts in plant composition respond to changes in land use type and intensity, as well as prevailing climatic conditions, and so reveal the wax and wane of human populations and the timing and impact of drought during the 14th and 15th centuries CE.
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