Around the web

A few interesting things I’ve come across lately:

-I have been reading a Vietnamese archaeology blog called Archaeological Highlights for a few months now. The author appears to be an archaeologist and she travels around to different excavations, posts photos of their work, as well as  links to articles.   It’s written in Vietnamese (which I don’t know) but Google Translate does an OK job of getting the meaning across.  Lately she’s been discussing the discovery of an ancient amaranth grain (possibly several thousand years old) that has actually sprouted! There is some concern that it might be a modern grain that has contaminated the ancient finds, but they are currently working on dating their samples.  More is also written about the grain here.

–Eye on East Asia has a fairly regular feature rounding up archaeology stories from East Asia. Add it to your RSS feed!

-The Phnom Kulen project, which I wrote about earlier here, has a new website! In addition to an archaeological project, they also have a development project to benefit people living around the archaeological sites.  I am a big fan of this kind of ethical archaeology.

-This WSJ article on Vann Molyvann and his buildings had a link to the Vann Molyvann project, which describes itself as: “a  team of Cambodian and American architects and students working in Phnom Penh.  We began work on July 1, 2009 and will continue until September 30, 2010 at which point the drawings, models and photographs we generate will be presented at the French Cultural Centre in Phnom Penh.  Publication of a monograph is to follow.  Any proceeds from the effort will be used to support architectural and arts education in Cambodia.” They are still looking for donations to support their project.

Phnom Kulen Redux

I’ve already blogged about my trip to Phnom Kulen back in March but I recently wrote another article about it for TouchStone and wanted to post the text here. It includes more details from the project director JB about the Phnom Kulen Archaeological Project.

In other news readers in Cambodia can check out my “Insider’s Guide to the Royal Palace” in the most current issue of TouchStone magazine, available at bars and restaurants around Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. There are lot of other interesting articles in the issue including some about ancient Angkorian rice fields, and contemporary artists in Cambodia, definitely worth checking out!

Read more about Phnom Kulen after jump:

Phnom Kulen

Finally back home in Phnom Penh after being gone for so long. I really loved spending time in the countryside but it’s nice to be back and stop living out of a suitcase. I have one last post about my time away about a short trip I took to visit Phnom Kulen, a mountain site not far from Siem Reap that is well-known for its Angkorian period pottery kilns. I was lucky enough to join some folks from a Center for Khmer Studies workshop who came up for a field trip and we got to visit the excavation and conservation project run by the French archaeologist known as JB (for Americans reading that is pronounced Gee Bey). JB is wrapping up the first year of a 3-year project excavating and doing conservation on some of the many brick temple sites located on Phnom Kulen mountain. One amazing side note: his project is privately funded entirely from donations from rich business people in England. Attention rich business people: I am currently accepting applications for the position of benefactor! I mentioned below my lack of jungle experience in Cambodia but a trip to Kulen mountain changed all that. More after the jump.