History

   Prehistoric Period

   Evidence suggests the presence of occupation in Cambodia in the prehistoric period.

can be traced. It is likely, though, that inhabitants throughout mainland south-east Asia

Cambodia, Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam developed basic skills such as the cultivation of rice, the domestication of the ox and buffalo and the use of metals, and practiced animistic worship at about the same time and in a similar way. The earliest settlement found so far at
Lo ang Spean in Battambang province has produced evidence or occupation over 6,000 years go. The people lived in caves and knew the techniques of polishing stone and decorating pottery with cord-marked, combed and cared designs.

   A second prehistoric site, Bas- Plateaux in Kompong Cham province, has yielded radiocarbon dates from the second century BC. The inhabitants of this later site lived in groups resembling villages. Their level of domestication was similar to that of the people of Lo ang spean. Samrong Sen in central Cambodia, a third prehistoric site, was occupied about 1500 BC. Opinions differ as to when the prehistoric period ended, but  it is generally agreed it occurred sometime between 500 BC and AD 100.