Paper short abstract:

For the first time in Southeast Asia a multi-disciplinary project has identified a historic bronze workshop where both statues and objects were crafted and united this discovery with characterization of manufacturing debris.

Paper long abstract:

Research on the chronology, meaning and influence of Khmer sculpture has greatly enhanced our understanding of the Angkorian kingdom. But studies that consider the methods of manufacture and the individuals and teams responsible for crafting the images remain partial. Preliminary results from surveys, excavations and material analyses, north of the Royal Palace in Angkor Thom, reveal much about Angkorian copper-based metallurgy. The close proximity to the Royal Palace complex suggests the atelier was of considerable importance to the political elite who commissioned its products to furnish its palaces and temples with objects, and to legitimise its rule with images of the gods. Complementary technical investigations into archaeometallurgical materials such as technical ceramics (crucibles, moulds, remains of wall furnaces), copper objects and foundry waste, iron objects, slags, and stone and ceramic tools can consider the foundry practices privileged by pre-modern craft specialists.