Reimagining the City of Fire and Iron: A landscape archaeology of the Angkor-Period Industrial Complex of Preah Khan of Kompong Svay, Cambodia (ca. 9th to 13th centuries A.D.) Mitch Hendrickson 1 , Damian Evans 2 1 University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, 2 University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia In the archaeological literature regional centers often receive far less attention than capital regions and the medieval Khmer Empire (ca. 9th to 15th centuries A.D.) is a classic case in point. At its height, the Khmer Empire stretched across much of mainland Southeast Asia, and it remains the most extensive dominion in the history of the region. To date, however, relatively little archaeological work has been completed outside of the capital of Angkor, and we have a limited understanding of the broader dynamics of the Empire. In this paper we begin to address this lacuna at the remote monumental complex of Preah Khan of Kompong Svay, the largest of all the Angkor-period regional centers. We describe the use of remote sensing and ground survey methods to produce the first comprehensive archaeological map of the site. The map data are used to evaluate conventional interpretations of the site as a major industrial complex, urban center and military outpost. The findings have implications for our understanding of early urbanism, industrial production and imperial expansion in the region. Keywords: Angkor, Cambodia, settlement archaeology, remote sensing, industrial landscapes, regional centers Introduction: Center and Periphery The Khmer Empire, centered on the great temple complex at Angkor in Cambodia, was arguably the most expansive and influential polity in medieval Southeast Asia between the 10th to 13th centuries A.D. Research over the past century has focused on the dense urban temple landscape in the Greater Angkor region and has resulted in important new interpretations about its trajectory of growth and decline. However, a more sophisticated understanding of the complex and dynamic relationship between capital and the state writ large requires a detailed con- sideration of its regional centers, which has been a long-neglected component of Angkorian studies in spite of the lengthy tradition of this kind of research in other parts of the world (see Champion 1989; Rowlands et al. 1987). Late 19th to early 20th century surveys by Aymonier (1900, 1901, 1904) and Lunet de Lajonquière (1902, 1907, 1911) identified hundreds of small temples as well as several large monumental complexes across northern Cambodia, northeast Thailand and southern Laos. Many of these regional centers were directly connected to the capital via an extensive system of major highways and minor roads. The existence of this vast infrastructural network illustrates the importance that Angkor’ s elites placed in controlling access to far-flung areas of the empire, in order to project power and secure their political, religious and economic dominance (Hall 1985; Hendrickson 2007, 2011; Welch 1998). With only a handful of recent exceptions (Evans 2010, 2010–2011; Evans and Moylan 2013; Heng 2012; Shimoda 2010) our knowledge about these regional centers is limited to art and architectural surveys, epi- graphic records and generalized discussions of their role in Angkorian history (Cœdès 1937–1966; Jacques and Lafond 2004; Parmentier 1939; Stern 1965). Documentation of hydraulic management, secular occupation, industrial activities and landscape setting are crucially important if we are to determine the rationale for establishing these centers, how they functioned, what role they played in the broader poli- tico-economic system and, ultimately, how they col- lapsed in relation to the rise and fall of Angkor and the Khmer state. The Industries of Angkor Project (INDAP) rep- resents the first systematic and rigorous investigation of urban, religious and industrial activities and their Correspondence to: Mitch Hendrickson, Department of Anthropology, Room 3148D 1007 W. Harrison Street, BSB (M/C 027) Chicago, IL 60607 USA. Email: mjhend@uic.edu © Trustees of Boston University 2015 DOI 10.1080/00934690.2015.1105034 Journal of Field Archaeology 2015 1