Category:Small Tuol

The third of our site 'condition categories' is tuol - a Khmer word meaning mound or hillock. While this could be a natural feature our category refers to a tuol that clearly covers an historic site and where some evidence in the form of bricks, blocks or foundations can be seen. How many bricks need to be on show before a tuol becomes a ruin is of course debatable and it's also important to note that even some brief clearance and restoration work can instantly render many touls into a ruin! (We confess to not having visited certain sites for a period of time and where we are aware that such work has since been undertaken so categorization is fluid. Prasat Prei Khmeng (Boeng Khnar) being a perfect example.) Conversely such earth mounds and vegetation cover can build up rapidly and it's common to see old black and white photos of extensively excavated ruins that today are once again completely buried.

A small tuol may represent a larger site under the surface but again we're basing our categories on what can be seen today.