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Metal-Working in Ancient Cambodia : Work of the Gods, Work of Men Till 1940, craftsmen working in the forests of northern Cambodia smelted iron ore on a small scale to produce high-grade steel. The abundant production of iron was a factor underlying the formation and influence of the Angkor empires. Till the late 19th century, metal-workers from the Kouy ethnic group in the Kompong-Thom area supplied iron to all of Cambodia and part of Indochina. Organized in egalitarian village work groups under both a mystical and a technical leader, those metallurgists observed ceremonies and prohibitions so that divinities would guarantee the success of iron-working operations. These ceremonies, of very ancient date, unquestionably come from India. The description of the techniques used to reduce iron ore will be of special interest to archaeologists and historians, since there are so few ancient documents about this topic.

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La Chine a l’ambition de reconstituer une nouvelle « Route de la Soie » terrestre. Le réalisme impose d’être prudent face à de tels projets grandioses mais risquant de ne jamais être réalisés tant le transport terrestre est au final moins compétitif que la voie maritime, malgré des délais qui pourraient sembler plus rapides.