If you’re in Bangkok for SPAFACON2024, you may also want to stop by the Siam Society on 13 June for this special symposium on honour of Damian Evans with presentations from Christophe Pottier, Pare Patcharaporn Ngernkerd, Jean-Baptiste Chevance, Mitch Hendrickson and Martin Polkinghorne.
The understanding of Angkor’s rise and fall has been dramatically transformed by the shift in perspective from the temple to the landscape. Since the 1990s, access to a continuous range of remote sensing imagery captured via aerial photography, satellites and lidar has shed light both on the scale and spatial reach of settlements and infrastructure built by the former Khmer Empire. Ground surveys at sites within Angkor and across its provincial territories further revealed how such practices varied in response to historical events and local geography. For nearly a quarter century, the late Damian Evans dedicated his research to documenting the ancient landscapes of Cambodia, Laos and Thailand and was a globally renowned expert in the field of aerial and remote sensing. The presentations in this special symposium offer tribute to his research and legacy by reflecting on the impact of his work at sites before, after and beyond Angkor.