| Abstract: |
Angkor's road system has a long and complicated role within scholarly and literary discourses of Cambodia's history. The raised earthen embankments and infrastructure (bridges, two types of masonry 'rest house' temples, water tanks) radiating out from the capital are a potent symbol of Khmer power and capability. Combined with the natural waterways linked to the Tonie Sap Lake, the resulting transport system enabled the Khmer to achieve their economic, religious and political agendas across their empire between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. In more recent times, Angkor's roads provided first access for nineteenth century explorers to the unknown territories of central Indochina and became the foundation for Cambodia's highways such as Route coloniale l bis (now Route nationale 6). The significance of these roads is similarly reflected in works of fiction such as Malraux's <i> La Voie Royale </i> (1930), in which the lost route between Angkor and Phimai is an important vehicle for the plot. Our knowledge of Angkor's roads is today based on a body of facts compiled over the past century. Among these facts, however, we find fictions or 'myths' that reappear and serve to skew our perspective of the system's history, extent and purpose. One myth, t hatjayavarman VII (1181-1218 CE) was responsible for building the road system, has been refuted following a combination of historic and archaeological investigations (see Hendrickson 2010). Another important, though less prevalent, myth is that Angkor's roads were paved with stone. The idea of paving is a logical extension of modern and historical state's desire to create an effective communication system. This paper will explore the types and role of paving found in historical states and then examine the origin of the Angkorian paving myth. The evidence for paving is discussed in the investigation of three key issues: What evidence is there for paving? Could the Khmer have paved the roads? And, finally, why did the Khmer choose not to pave their roadways? It is argued that while paving does exist in specific contexts (i.e., causeways, specialised secondary roads), the main roads -- the <i> voies royales </i> -- were not surfaced with stone during the Angkorian period for the reason that they functioned perfectly well without paving. Dispelling this myth raises specific concerns about the overestimation of Angkor's infrastructure without a critical evaluation of the nature of the claims and the first-hand archaeological investigation of the material remains. More broadly, the study of this detail in the transport system underscores a significant methodological issue for archaeologists seeking to study and compare state-level societies.
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