| Abstract: |
Since 1991, the P.R.A.L. (Projet de Recherches en Archéologie Lao), a Lao-French cooperation, has been conducting surveys and excavations in the plain of Champassak, mainly behind the Khmer sanctuary of Wat Phu, on the hill, and in the Old City situated 5 km away, down in the plain, on the bank of the Mekong. The Old City contains within its earthen walls many remains dating from the Pre-Angkorian period (brick monuments, sandstone architectural pieces, daily life objects, pottery) belonging to different types of occupation (religious, residential, industrial). Two inscriptions of King Mahendravarman dating from the end of the VIth century A.D. were discovered in 1991 and 1992. In 1993 and 1995, excavations were carried out on the brick monument associated with these inscriptions. The monument, badly damaged by looting, is 14 m x 14 m, with a projecting part 7m x 3,50 m bearing the entrance staircase. Only the deep foundations (brick piles, pebble and sand) and the brick base were preserved, showing an external carved decoration of small pilasters. Sandstone architectural elements (parts of topping, entablature, doorstep, pilaster) were also found. Two other monuments (heaps of bricks) and some residential (?) remains are visible.
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