| Abstract: |
The importance of one of the earliest states of Southeast Asia, Funan, and its trading centre Oc Eo to the history of both Cambodia and Vietnam is undeniable. Trade as an economic activity is important for any development and the availability of a suitable port greatly assists with this development. Current literature suggests the port for Oc Eo provided the basis for the development of this trading hub. The current study discusses the likelihood that Nen Chua was in fact the port and hence the origin of the trading centre of Oc Eo. This thesis is based on the presence of an abandoned channel identified by morpho-sedimentary investigations of the Mekong River delta and the fact that Nen Chua appears to have been originally located on a large coastal inlet while Oc Eo was a further 12 km inland.
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