Archaeology, Community, and Heritage Management in Baray Commune: From Temples to Reservoirs

PHON Kaseka

Since 2019, systematic archaeological investigations in Baray Commune, Srei Santhor District, Kampong Cham Province, have revealed a cultural landscape that integrates temples, foundations, reservoirs, embankments (tumnop), and sluice channels (meteuk). This initiative, conceived and funded by Flinders University, Australia, and implemented in close collaboration with the Royal Academy of Cambodia, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, local authorities, and village communities, provides a rare example of integrated research and heritage stewardship. The project combined field surveys, excavations, oral history documentation, and community participation. Over four field seasons, all known archaeological sites in the commune were documented and formally registered in the national heritage list of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. Excavations uncovered ceramics, brick features, and stratigraphic evidence dating from the Angkorian to post-Angkorian periods, while community engagement brought to light undocumented features preserved in local memory. Beyond archaeological results, the Baray Commune project demonstrates how collaborative heritage management can enhance both research outcomes and long-term preservation. This paper expands on earlier reports by presenting (1) a historical and regional context of Khmer water management; (2) detailed methodologies of survey, excavation, and oral history integration; (3) case studies of temple foundations, reservoirs, and embankments; and (4) an analysis of how local participation and institutional partnerships created a replicable model for heritage stewardship in Cambodia.