The demise of Angkor: Systemic vulnerability of urban infrastructure to climatic variations

A new study reveals that Angkor's urban infrastructure was highly vulnerable to climatic variations, particularly flooding, which could trigger extensive and cascading damage. By transforming archaeological data into a numerical model, researchers demonstrated that the likelihood and severity of such systemic failures increased abruptly with the magnitude of flooding relative to normal flows. This finding supports the hypothesis that abrupt climatic changes, combined with infrastructural vulnerabilities, played a significant role in the demise of Angkor. The study draws parallels between ancient urban challenges and modern critical infrastructure issues.

Penny, D., Zachreson, C., Fletcher, R., Lau, D., Lizier, J. T., Fischer, N., Evans, D., Pottier, C., & Prokopenko, M. (2018). The demise of Angkor: Systemic vulnerability of urban infrastructure to climatic variations. Science Advances, 4(10). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau4029