Search results for ""Author Charles Higham""

A short history of the ancient civilization of Angkor, home to the spectacular temple of Angkor Wat.In the late sixteenth century a mythical encounter was reported on an elephant hunt in the dense jungle north of the Tonle Sap, or Great Lake, of central Cambodia. King Satha of Cambodia and his retainers were beating a path through the undergrowth when they were halted by stone giants, and then a massive wall. The King, the fable reported, ordered 6,000 men to bring down the wall, thereby exposing the city of Angkor 'lost' for over a century.Subsequent reports from Portuguese missionaries described its four gateways, with bridges flanked by stone figures leading across a moat. There were idols covered in gold, inscriptions, fountains, canals, and 'a temple with five towers, called Angor [sic]'. For four centuries, this huge complex has inspired awe amongst visitors from all over the world, but only now are its origins and history becoming clear.This book begins with the progress of the prehistoric communities of the area and draws on the author¿s recent excavations to portray the rich and expansive chiefdoms that existed at the dawn of civilization. It covers the origins of early states, up to the establishment, zenith and decline of this extraordinary civilization, whose most impressive achievement was the construction of the gilded temple mausoleum of Angkor Wat, in the twelfth century, allegedly by 70,000 people.

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The prehistoric site of Khok Phanom Di in central Thailand, occupied c.2000-1500 BC, was particularly rich in material culture. This volume focuses on the non-ceramic objects, all of which are discussed, catalogued and illustrated. The finds include objects made from bone, antler and turtle shell, worked stone, burnishing stones, shell, ivory and bone ornaments, shell knives and other shell items.

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"Charles Higham - rugby player, talented excavator and one of the great archaeologists of his generation - is an engaging raconteur. His fast-moving autobiography tells of the life well lived, of a world authority on Southeast Asia’s past. This is a fascinating and adventurous journey complete with academic debates, serious archaeology, its triumphs and minor disasters galore. Read this book if you aspire to be an archaeologist. It will inspire you to great deeds." - Brian Fagan, Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, University of California, Santa Barbara. "Higham charts an archaeological Odyssey from Roman Britain via the Bronze Age stock-breeders of central Europe to prehistoric Thailand and the origins of Angkor. This complements a personal journey equally eventful, from a double first and rugby blue at Cambridge to building a university department in New Zealand. Here is a life laden with academic honours and the thrill of discovery on a series of digs that have transformed understanding of the human past in a hitherto-under-evaluated part of the ancient world." - Professor Norman Hammond, Senior Fellow, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge University. "Charles Higham presents a readable and often witty account of a golden age in archaeological excavation in Thailand, Neolithic to Iron Age, from his perspective as a fundamental contributor. A must-read for colleagues, students, and the interested public are like." - Emeritus Professor Peter Bellwood, Australian National University. In this unique memoir, Charles Higham, one of the great archaeologists of his generation, describes the inside story of how his many excavations have introduced Southeast Asia’s past to a worldwide audience. For over 50 years, he and his Thai colleagues have explored the arrival of early humans, the impact of the first farmers, the remarkable rise of social elites with the spread of metallurgy and the origins of civilisations. Once seen as a cultural backwater, Southeast Asia now takes centre stage in understanding the human past.

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