Samrong Sen

Though various spellings have been presented, "Samrong Sen" is considered to be correct. The site was first discovered and reported in 1876 by M. Rouques, Director of the Fluvial Transportation Company. Archaeological history of the village in general and the research finding of the archaeological site in particular have been reported by archaeologists Corre in 1879, Fuchs in 1882 and 1883, Mansuy in 1902, Mourer in 1994, Vanna in 1999, and many Cambodian archaeologists and researchers. ;Initial villager excavations Initial finds at Samrong Sen were by villagers' excavations while extracting for hydrated lime from shell excavations at this site; these initial finds were handed over by the villagers to the missionaries. After the first excavations of 1876 in the flood plains of Tonlé Sap, additional excavations were carried out by archaeologists at different locations within this site. Many of the large size collections made from the site during several excavations could have been from casual surface excavations and hence no specific methodology could be explained. ;19th century The earliest artefacts were found by Lieutenant Jean Moura in 1876; he was the Representative of the French protectorate of Cambodia in 1864. The stray archaeological finds were transported to France where they were analysed and interpreted. ;20th century Systematic excavations with stratigraphic control started in 1902, and again in 1923 by Mansuy. Three layers were identified, which revealed shell lenses up to depth. Arm bands and beads found here have similarity with those found in the Mekong sites. Pottery found here was not of any decorative type. Graves, however, gave many finds of fully formed bronze vessels. Several observations Finds of Mansuy were further examined by French archaeologists in 1998 for human skeletons. This study identified three fully preserved skulls. In addition, 20 mandibles and several post-cranial ones found here established that these belonged to at least 20 people. Also found was a bronze mould and various arrowheads, axeheads, chisels and fish hooks etc. ==Geography==

Samrong Sen is located in central Cambodia on the east bank of the Stueng Chinit River, in the flood plains of the Tonlé Sap River, near the ancient capital of Oudong. The site is approachable from the Kampong Chhnang, which is away. The village below which the prehistoric archaeological finds are found, is a rugged mound of elliptical shape with a length of 600 m laid in a north–south direction. It was about to above the Chinit River during low flow season. While parts of the site were exploited in the 1930s, the surviving portion as of the 1960s, is situated on the right bank of the Strung-Kinit, a rivulet within the waterway that flows from the Kompong-Leng mountains into the Tonlé Sap. The site is approached along the waterway by inland transport from Kampong Chhnang port across the Tonlé Sap Lake via the Steung Chinit River. The road approach is, however, seasonal only on a non-monsoon road. ==Fauna==

Excavations uncovered bones of faunal species (cattle, pig, dog) and aqua species (crocodile, water turtle and shell fish). Shell fish bones extracted from depths of were subject to carbon dating which has fixed the age of the site around 1650±120 BC. ==Findings==

Morphological characteristics of the tools have been the basis for the categorization of the Samrong Sen stone tools. The adzes, axes, shouldered adzes, shouldered axes, gouges, chisels, a burnisher, a tool used as a hammer are the eight identified categories. The most common tools found were adzes, followed by chisels and gouges. Axes and shouldered axes were very few. In the early excavation stages, flakes, debris, pre-forms and unfinished tools were not part of the collections. Further, though tool-manufacturing techniques could not be correctly discerned, it has been inferred after careful study of the tools that picking or flaking was the initial step followed by partial, edge, and full grinding. It has also been conjectured that sawing techniques were used. Other observations showed that the ceramics contained decoration that are incised or impressed, a stylish technology which could exist at other locations; an earthenware vase mounted on a pedestal (reported by Mansuy in 1902 and in Mourer in 1971) attests to the polished stone adzes of the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age and are found in the adjoining countries of Thailand and Vietnam; stylistic changes have been recorded in the stratigraphic sequences such as in the curvilinear geometric ware. The Bronze Age manufacturing of bronze finds at Samrong Sen and other sites in Cambodia are inferred to have been the outcome of supplies of ingots of copper received from central or northeastern Thailand, as Cambodia lacked any copper resources in its own territory. The finished bronze products produced in Cambodia are, however, testified by the large quantity of moulds and workshop remnants found during excavations. Ciseau poli MHNT PRE 2004 0 132 Moura Somrong Sen.jpg|Chisel – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT Hache à épaulement MHNT PRE 2004 0 135 Moura Somrong Sen.jpg|Shouldered axes – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT Hache à épaulement MHNT PRE 2004 0 169 Moura Somrong Sen.jpg|Shouldered axes – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT Disque auriculaire, Somrong, Sen MHNT PRE 2013 0 569 Jean Moura.jpg|Ear stretching plug – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT Rondelle en pierre poli MHNT PRE 2004 0 572 Moura Somrong Sen.jpg|Jade ornaments – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT Samrong Sen Parure MHNT PRE 2013 0 570.jpg|Necklace – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT Samrong Sen Parure MHNT PRE 2013 0 571 Moura.jpg|Necklace – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT Samrong Sen Vase MHNT.PRE.2013.0.579.jpg|Ceramic bowl decorated – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT Samrong Sen Vase MHNT.PRE.2013.0.578.jpg|Ceramic vase – former collection of Jean Moura MHNT ==Collections==

The 1864 Moura collection of 18 items is housed in the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse, along with the undated finds of F. Regnault (11 items) and C.C. Rousseau (15 items). The six items credited to Ludovic Jammes, a teacher from Realmont, France in 1887 are housed in the Musée des Antiquités in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, along with items found by Vitout in 1912, and one item of Corre in 1905. Jammes had collected 71 items which are kept in the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Lyon, and part of his collection is at the Smithsonian Institution. ==References==