| Abstract: |
Between the 9th and 15th centuries CE the builders and artisans of Angkor and its territories furnished their landscapes with thousands of temples and tens of thousands of sacred sculptures, yet the operational behaviour of these craft specialists is little known. This article presents the results of excavations and materials analysis from a centre of sandstone production for the classic period Angkorian city of Hariharālaya and appraises the procurement of raw materials, manufacturing methods, and sites of production for the makers of temples and sculptures. A production site associated with the temple of Bakong was identified by surface remains of sandstone debitage and unfinished sculptures. Excavation revealed a 9th-century building associated with large-scale sandstone waste deposits and another phase of sculpture production in the 12th and 13th centuries. A study of sandstone characterisation was applied to in situ production waste, unfinished sculptures from the workshop, and on completed works. Comparison of samples from the workshop and associated temples with sculptures from Cambodian and international collections suggest the site was likely used as a dump for construction of nearby temples and later to produce images of the gods destined for veneration. Moreover, the workshop was part of a network of craft specialists who sourced many thousands of tons of specific sandstone across the Angkorian landscape.
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