Khmer sandstone quarries of Kulen Mountain and Koh Ker: a petrographic and geochemical study

Abstract

Sandstone from several ancient quarries and natural outcrops located at the eastern foothill of Kulen Mountain and in Koh Ker, northern Cambodia, has been characterized by means of petrographic analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and geochemical analysis. The samples have been collected during a series of field surveys organized jointly by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA). The data show how the sandstone quarried from these sites is characterized by an overall petrographic and geochemical homogeneity, and is consistent with the upper terms of the Lower–Middle Jurassic Terrain Rouge Formation.This result suggests that petrography and geochemistry of sandstone belonging to the Terrain Rouge Formation might not be unambiguously characteristic of single quarry sites, but rather representative of vast portions of the sedimentary sequence.