Sparks and Needles: Seeking catalysts of state expansions, a case study of technological interaction at Angkor, Cambodia (9th to 13th centuries CE)

This paper presents a new framework for identifying catalysts of premodern state expansion. Combining ideas from Brian Arthur’s Complexity Economics with archaeological theories of landscape and transportation we investigate how changes in individual technologies act as sparks that direct and are directed by elite decision-making. Technological interaction is then used to evaluate how the Angkorian Khmer Empire managed to affect major expansions between the 11th and 13th centuries to become the dominant polity in mainland Southeast Asia. Using a multi-scalar and multidisciplinary evidence focusing on archaeometallurgical evidence, we test the impact of iron technology in the scalar and material shifts noted within the corpus of Angkor’s masonry temple architecture. The results indicate a correspondence between the permanent switch to sandstone and the increased access and use of iron from the Phnom Dek region, the largest and most important source of iron ore in Cambodia. Technological interaction forces us to consider the broader impact that changes in the iron and stone industries had across Angkor’s economy and whether the sources of change are derived from top-down decisions or bottom-up practices. The flexibility and comprehensive nature of this framework make it an ideal way to begin breaking down the complex range of factors involved in process of expansion.