The Kiln Sites of the “Torp Chey” Area (Cambodia): Production and Distribution

Abstract

This article presents the typological and archaeometrical results obtained on the brown glazed stoneware of the Torp Chey kiln sites area. The ceramics were studied as part of the Cerangkor project, and several kiln sites were surveyed and analysed, including : Torp Chey, Veal Svay, Chong Samrong and Teuk Lek. More than sixty samples of brown glazed stoneware from the different kiln sites have been analysed chemically by XRF-WDS, twentyfive among them also petrographically. The data obtained indicate that the different kiln sites use similar raw materials suggesting the exploitation of the same geological formations for the whole area. Only one reference group has been therefore established, distinct from the productions of other Angkorian kiln sites and also from the productions of similar brown glazed stoneware from the Buriram sites (Thailand). Furthermore, the analysis of brown glazed stoneware obtained from consumption sites makes it possible to propose the first map showing the distribution of ceramics from production sites.