Drawing your attention to Dr Alison Carter’s excellent post about the myth that Angkor was “discovered” by the French in the 19th century.
One of my biggest pet peeves is the old myth about how the French, specifically the explorer and researcher Henri Mouhot, “discovered Angkor” in 1860. This myth is based on an idea that the Cambodians had no knowledge of their past, and therefore helped the French justify their colonial rule in “restoring a nation to its past grandeur” (Dagens 1995:47). As Angkor has been in the news lately, due to the recent BBC documentary, this factual inaccuracy continues to be perpetuated. It’s time for this myth to die.
Read her post, Stop saying the French discovered Angkor
Disclosure: Alison is a personal friend of mine but she has been blogging about Cambodian archaeology for years. Read about her stuff here.