Überblick
In Spring 2007, one of the richest prehistoric burial sites of Southeast Asia was found in Prohear village but almost completely looted by the villagers. In May 2007, an Archaeology student observed and reported this looting to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and to the archaeologists of the Memot Centre in Phnom Penh. Cambodian archaeologists visited the site but could not stop the looting. During the period up to the beginning of 2008, the villagers dug up the whole area of the burial site and sold all the archaeological artefacts to middlemen representing antique dealers. In less than a year, countless burials dating back 2000 years were systematically destroyed. Very likely more than 1000 gold and silver objects and about 32 bronze drums were immediately channelled into the illegal antiquities trade.
Cooperation / Cooperation partners
Excavation team © Memot CentreExcavation team © Memot Centre
Our Cambodian partners are archaeologists from the Memot Centre, Phnom Penh: Vin Laychour and Seng Sonetra (Memot-Centre).
Scientific cooperation efforts exist with:
Archaeozoological investigations: Prof. Dr. Norbert Benecke (Natural Scientific Department of the Head Office of the German Archaeological Institute)
Bioanthropological investigations: Simone E. Krais (University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anthropology)
Glass and precious stone analyses: Alison K. Carter (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Radiocarbon dating: Dr. Bernd Kromer (Radiometry Research Group, Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg)
Strontium isotopic analyses used to detect primarily non-local individuals: Marina Vohberger (Biozentrum der LMU München, Department Biologie I Bereich Anthropologie )
Metal analyses (gold and silver): Prof. Dr. Ernst Pernicka, Dr. Roland Schwab, Dipl.-Arch. Sandra Schlosser (Curt-Engelhorn-Centre for Archaeometry, Mannheim)
Metal analyses (bronze): Thomas Oliver Pryce (Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford)
Further Contacts
Vin Laychour (Organisation)
Email: vlaychour@yahoo.com
Seng Sonetra (Restaurierung)
Email: sengsonetra@yahoo.com
Sponsorship
Thanks of the support of the German Embassy in Phnom Penh and the Federal Foreign Office's "Cultural Preservation Programme", the conservation of the finds from Prohear is in progress since 2008. Two numerous complexes of the most precious objects are presented in the exhibition of the National-Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh and in the exhibition of the provincial museum in Prey Veng.
Bibliography
Andreas Reinecke / Vin Laychour / Seng Sonetra 2008: Der Alptraum von Prohear: Archäologie in Deutschland 6/2008, 12-17.
Andreas Reinecke / Vin Laychour / Seng Sonetra 2009: The First Golden Age of Cambodia: Excavations at Prohear (Bonn 2009). [PDF, 17MB]
Andreas Reinecke / Vin Laychour / Heng Sophady / Seng Sonetra 2010: The First Golden Civilization of Cambodia. Unexpected Archaeological Discoveries. [PDF, 2.8MB].
Andreas Reinecke / Vin Laychour 2010: The Early Iron Age cemetery at Prohear, Prey Veng province in Southeast Cambodia: Excavations and results of new analyses: Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: Newsletter, Issue 6, 7-11.
Simone Krais/Seng Sonetra 2010: The skeletal remains from Prohear: Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: Newsletter, Issue 6, 11-13.
Andreas Reinecke/Vin Laychour 2011: The third excavation campaign at the Iron Age cemetery Prohear, Prey Veng province: Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: Newsletter, Issue 7, 8-9.
Simone Krais/Seng Sonetra 2011: The skeletal remains from Prohear: Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: Newsletter, Issue 7, 10.
Simone Krais/Michael Francken 2011: Tooth blackening at the Bronze Age sites of Prohear (Cambodia) and Go O Chua (Vietnam): Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: Newsletter, Issue 7, 11-12.
Sandra Schlosser/Andreas Reinecke/Roland Schwab/Ernst Pernicka/Seng Sonetra/Vin Laychour 2012: Early Cambodian gold and silver from Prohear: composition, trace elements and gilding: Journal of Archaeological Science 39:9, 2877-2887.
Simone Krais/Andreas Reinecke/Seng Sonetra/Vin Laychour 2012: The Bioanthropology of the Early Iron Age site of Prohear (Cambodia): ZAAK 4, 103-125.