Excavations from 2004 to 2007 at Bakong temple have unearthed 3704 fragments of roof tiles. The results of their typological and technical study are presented and contextualized.
Paper long abstract:
Roof tiles are commonly found in production and consumption archaeological sites of the Angkor period. Since 2012, Choi Myongduk undertook research on this topic previously often overlooked.
The presentation will focus on the study of a corpus of 3704 roof tiles fragments unearthed during three excavation campaigns conducted from 2004 to 2006 as part of the mission led by Christophe Pottier at Bakong, around this major pyramid temple marking the heart of the Hariharâlaya capital.
The study of the characteristics of the roof tiles - shape, type of clay, firing method - has identified four types of cover tiles, 5 types of canal tiles, 2 types of various architectural elements and 5 provisional types of eve tiles, all corresponding to the beginning of the Angkorian period. Contextualized with the general evolution of roof tiles during the Angkor period (from the ninth to the fifteenth century), the technical characteristics of the Bakong roof tiles will be highlighted in comparison with a slightly later corpus studied at the Western Mebon.