Loose change? Evaluating the roles of Chinese coins in the Angkorian Khmer Empire
Abstract Interactions with China and India played an important part in the development of the Angkorian Khmer Empire. Recent discovery of several Chinese coins at the regional centre of Preah Khan of Kompong Svay provides an opportunity to see how these objects were used in Angkor’s moneyless economy. The broader distribution and function of Chinese coins in Southeast Asia is evaluated before examining why so few examples have been discovered in Cambodia. It is argued that coins served a plurality of functions ranging from deposit, cash, ingot, cure, and curio in the Angkorian world.
Authors
- Mitch Hendrickson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7694-9648)
- Sébastien Clouet
- Julia Estève (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6343-6125)
- Cristina Castillo Cobo
- Quan Hua (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0179-8539)
- Dominique Soutif
- Ellen Hsieh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1635-9021)
- Kaseka Phon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8896-3818)
- Christian Fischer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7843-0439)
Institutions
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (AU)
- National Tsing Hua University (TW)
- University of Illinois Chicago (US)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- École Française d'Extrême-Orient (FR)
- Cambodia-Oxford Medical Research Unit (KH)
- Royal Academy of Cambodia (KH)
- Film Independent (US)
- Centre de Recherche sur l’Extrême Orient de Paris – Sorbonne (FR)
- University College London (GB)
- Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Asian Archaeology
- Published
- 2025-05-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s41826-025-00108-z
- Primary Topic
- Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
- Australian Government