The Khmer empire had started from the 8th century until the 14th century.Reliefs carved in stone at the temple depicted :something about what the people ate, what clothes they wore, their domesticated animals,the games they played, the vessels they used for cooking, and the houses they lived in. The life in the countryside is probably quite similar to the past with little change in the basic methods and means of agrarian life.
The ancient Khmers had physical characteristics similar to the modern Cambodians. They were of medium height with black, often curly hair and had square-shaped faces with a broad forehead, a long straight nose with wide nostrils, and deep-set eyes: characteristics that can be seen in the faces of the warriors in the bas-reliefs around the Bayon.
Similarities in dress between the ancient and modern Cambodians are also apparent. A single, rectangular piece of cloth, about two metres in length and one metre wide, is worn by both men and women today in the same manner as is depicted on the reliefs. The practical and versatile garment( a sampot) is of woven cotton, although a sampot worn by royalty in the Angkor period was made of embroidered silk woven with gold and imported from China, Champa (Central Vietnam), or Siam. A woman wraps a cloth around her body in a manner that looks like a floor-length skirt and ties it gracefully in front or secures it with a belt at the waist. A man, on the other hand, draws the ends of the cloth up between his legs to form a pant-like garment. Today the male sampat is checked or striped whereas a woman wears a patterned one, often in a brightly coloured floral design.
In ancient times, both sexes wore elaborate jewellery consisting of necklaces, bracelets, and arm and ankle bands. The quantity and material of the jewellery depended on the status of the person wearing it.
During wet and dry seasons and the waxing and waning of the moon set the pattern for harvesting rice and catching fish, the two staples of the economy. To help natures provide the right balance of rain and to ensure abundant and fruitful harvests, the spirits had to be propitiated. Rites and festivals coinciding with the full moon were held in ancient times just as today. The year begins in April with a New Year Festival. This raucous event drives away evil spirits and concurrently invokes good ones with parades, boat-races, dances, and, above-all, merit-making, offering food, lustral water, and other beneficient things to the spirits, the gods, and the Buddha.
Although the Khmers never adopted the caste system of India they did have classes of society. The king was at the top of the echelon. A successful king ensured the prosperity of the kingdom and passed it on to his ancestors. His protective power was omnipotent and encompassed the people, state, law and soil. This factor was so important [hat the reign-names of successive kings included the honorary suffix varman (‘armour') which was later extended to mean 'protection' or 'protector'. Each king built a state temple, other monuments dedicated to his ancestors, a palace, and a baray-all as physical expressions of his power and protection over his people and his kingdom.
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