Description
Book SynopsisDougald O'Reilly is Professor in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Archaeology from the University of Otago, New Zealand, following undergraduate studies in Canada. For over three decades, his research has focused on the emergence of political complexity in mainland Southeast Asia, particularly in Bronze and Iron Age Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.
Raised in Canada but long based in Southeast Asia and Australasia, O'Reilly has lived and worked extensively in New Zealand, Cambodia, and Australia. While in Cambodia, he founded the non-profit organization Heritage Watch (www.heritagewatchinternational.org) in response to the widespread looting of prehistoric and historic sites. Heritage Watch launched a nationwide heritage education campaign and has grown into one of the few enduring non-governmental organizations dedicated to cultural heritage preservation in the region.
O'Reilly has held academic appointments at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, the University of Sydney, and Yale University. His current research includes fieldwork at the UNESCO-listed Plain of Jars in Laos and broader investigations into early state formation across Southeast Asia.
