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The Early history of Cambodia follows the prehistoric and protohistoric development of Cambodia a country in mainland Southeast Asia. Thanks to archaeological work carried out since 2009 this can now be traced back to the Neolithic period. As excavation sites have become more numerous and modern dating methods are applied, settlement traces of all stages of human civil development from neolithicHunter-gatherer groups to organized preliterate societies are documented in the region.^[1][2][3][4]

Historical records of a political structure on territory, what is now modern day Cambodia first appear in Chinese annals in reference to Funan, a polity that encompassed the southernmost part of the Indochinese peninsula during the 1st to 6th centuries. Centered at the lower Mekong,^[5] Funan is noted as the oldest regional Hindu culture, which suggests prolonged socio-economic interaction with maritime trading partners of the Indosphere in the west.^[6] By the 6th century a civilisation, titled Chenla or Zhenla in Chinese annals, has firmly replaced Funan, as it controlled larger, more undulating areas of Indochina and maintained more than a singular centre of power.^[7][8]

The Khmer Empire was established by the early 9th century in a mythical initiation and consecration ceremony to claim political legitimacy by founder Jayavarman II at Mount Kulen (Mount Mahendra) in 802 C.E.^[9] A succession of powerful sovereigns, continuing the Hindudevarajacult tradition, reigned over the classical era of Khmer civilisation until the 11th century. A new dynasty of provincial origin introduced Buddhism which leads to royal religious discontinuities and decentralization.^[10] The royal chronology ends in the 14th century. Great achievements in administration, and accomplishments in agriculture, architecture, hydrology, logistics, urban planning and the arts are testimony to a creative and progressive civilization - in its complexity a cornerstone of Southeast Asian cultural legacy.^[11]

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