| Abstract: |
Note: Abstract in English although article is in French A few years ago, the Lao cultural authorities "discovered" in the Bo Keo province a group of ancient religious monuments scattered over an area bordering the Mekong river. The site was named Souvanna Khom Kham after the name of an ancient city whose foundation and ruin is told in a legendary chronicle of Lān Nā. The identification of the site with this ancient town is questionable, all the more since the site is situated just opposite Chiang Saen and probably shares the same cultural background. However, this does not mean that the chronicle has nothing to tell us about the area : deep under many layers of legends, it may record the presence of human settlements at the mouth of the Nam Kok river dating back to before the foundation of Chiang Saen.
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