Amazon.com description: Product Description: This synthesis of the latest archaeological discoveries in Southeast Asia begins with the early hunter gatherers and concludes with the early states, with particular reference to Angkor. New ideas and interpretations abound. Rice farming is now documented in the Yangzi Valley, whence it spread south; copper and bronze casting is seen as an extension via China of a process that began in the Near East. In conjunction with his own excavations in Northeast Thailand, Higham reviews the important culture of the Iron Age that heralded the transition to early states. This book is the only up-to-date account of the early cultures of a huge area and is a unique compendium essential for all those interested in this region.