Piphal Heng

Piphal Heng joins the FAS as Assistant Professor of Anthropology. He specializes in the archaeology of Southeast Asia and holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He was recently a University of California Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. His research focuses on political economy, religious change, and urban landscapes in premodern and early modern Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia. Through archaeological fieldwork, he investigates long-term settlement patterns and processes of state formation during the Angkorian and post-Angkorian periods. His current project, Phum Archaeology, integrates excavation with geospatial approaches—including remote sensing (LiDAR) and geophysical survey—to explore low-density urbanism, infrastructure, and temple-based economies in the Lower Mekong basin. With over two decades of experience, he has co-directed multiple field projects and training programs in Cambodia in collaboration with local institutions and international scholars. His work, published in journals such as Archaeological Research in Asia and World Archaeology, is grounded in inclusive research practices that center local knowledge, capacity building, and heritage stewardship. At Yale, he teaches courses on the archaeology of Southeast Asia, urbanism, religion, and related topics.