The Great Angkor Drought: Tree Rings Reveal Collapse

For decades, the sudden fall of Angkor in the 15th century was blamed on Siamese invaders. But a groundbreaking study of tree rings, monsoon records, and Angkor's own water management system tells a different story. In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine how decades of severe drought followed by intense flooding crippled the Khmer Empire's ability to feed its capital. They discuss the role of the Mekong and Tonle Sap, the failure of the baray reservoirs, and the political fragmentation that followed. Evidence from the Greater Angkor Project and dendrochronology reveals that the empire's collapse was not a single event but a slow unraveling driven by climate extremes. The conversation also touches on how the devaraja cult lost authority when the gods failed to bring rain, and how the shift to Theravada Buddhism offered an alternative spiritual framework. Listeners will learn about the surprising precision of tree-ring dating in tropical climates and what it tells us about the end of one of the world's great medieval civilizations. #Angkor #KhmerEmpire #Dendrochronology #ClimateChange #Drought #Monsoon #TonleSap #MekongRiver #GreaterAngkorProject #TreeRings #Baray #Devaraja #TheravadaBuddhism #SiemReap #JayavarmanVII #SoutheastAsianHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo