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With a population of around 100,000, Paris was the largest city in Europe in the 13th century.
At the same time, veritable megacities testified to Asia's civilizational progress.
One of these metropolises was Angkor, the center of the Khmer Empire in what is now Cambodia, which in its heyday extended over large parts of Southeast Asia.
Research in recent years has shown that there were several large settlements on the site of Angkor, which also includes the famous Angkor Wat temples.
But how many people lived in it?
Unlike the numerous and monumental places of worship, their houses were overgrown by the jungle from the 14th century onwards.
A huge metropolis stretched around Angkor
In the jungle around the Cambodian temple city of Angkor, archaeologists have discovered traces of a medieval megacity.
Up to a million people may have lived in the Khmer capital.
Source: The World
The conventional estimates of half a million people is significantly exceeded by a new study.
Research by an international team led by archaeologist Sarah Klassen from the University of British Columbia now makes a population of 700,000 to 900,000 plausible.
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To do this, the scientists evaluated data from the past 30 years.
These were compiled using lidar technology (three-dimensional laser scanning), radiocarbon dating, special algorithms and historical maps.
So models were created that show in detail the growth of the urban center of Angkor since the 8th century.
The researchers present the results in the journal "Science Advances".
Source: Infographic Die Welt
The biggest problem with previous research on population density: In Angkor only the sacred buildings were made of stone. The residents' huts were made of perishable materials such as wood, clay and straw. "A comprehensive demographic study of Angkor had not previously been completed as the city's non-religious architectural structures were made from organic materials that long ago decayed, making traditional methods of estimating population size and density impossible," the researchers write .
So far, the population was measured by the possible harvest yield that could be achieved around Angkor.
In order to increase it, the rulers had set up a complicated irrigation system with the help of a tight administration - which was only really efficient in the center of the empire - which was only discovered in its gigantic dimensions a few years ago.
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This made wet rice the economic basis of the empire.
Its yield in the Middle Ages was at least six times greater than that of European grain.
And two to three harvests per year were possible.
Together with freshwater fish, the grain formed the foodstuff of the Khmer.
The team puts the populated area of the greater Angkor area at 3000 square kilometers - that's about twice the size of today's London.
Caring for up to 900,000 people on this area under medieval conditions required sophisticated organization and stable rule.
Religious representation should ensure this.
So the kings could be represented with the facial features of the Buddha on their temple towers.
View of the temples at Angkor Wat
Source: AP
However, there were considerable gaps between the claim to power and reality.
Historians have since shown that both the inscriptions on which the rulers stylized themselves as great kings and the tribute lists on which they appear in Chinese sources were intended to demonstrate an abundance of power that did not exist.
Outside of their core regions, the Khmer kings were hardly able to enforce their authority over the long term.
When the empire was invaded by the Mongols, as in around 1300, the complex administration was quickly damaged.
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That would explain why the giant city of Angkor was abandoned in the 15th century.
Administration and with it the distribution of resources collapsed, and the residents packed their things and moved on.
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