Dissertation

My dissertation analyzed the adaptive capacity of two medieval Khmer cities.

In my three-paper dissertation, I evaluate the adaptive capacity of the water management systems of two medieval Khmer cities, located in present-day Cambodia, over the course of centuries.

Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire for over 600 years (9th-15th centuries CE), except for one brief period when the capital was relocated to Koh Ker (921 – 944 CE). These cities both have massive water management systems that provide a comparative context for studying resilience; while Angkor thrived for hundreds of years, Koh Ker was occupied as the capital of the empire for a relatively short period.

In the first paper, I trace the chronological and spatial development of two types of settlement patterns (epicenters and lower-density temple-reservoir settlement units) at Angkor in relation to state-built hydraulic infrastructure.

In the second and third papers, I conduct a diachronic analysis using empirical data for the adaptive capacity of the water management systems at both cities. The results suggest that adaptive capacity is useful for identifying causal factors in the resilience and failures of systems over the long term.

The case studies also demonstrate the importance and warn of the danger of large centralized water management features.

This work benefited from multiple funding sources including the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Award, the Rust Family Foundation, and an Endeavour Fellowship from the Australian Department of Education and Training.