large-scale military action. Since Cambodia's independence in 1954 the country was to be the stage for a series of proxy wars of the cold war powers, foreign incursions and civil wars, that only effectively ended with the UN Mandate in the early 1990s. Early history The earliest traces of armed and violent conflict have been found at the Iron Age settlement of Phum Snay in north-western Cambodia. A 2010 examination of skeletal material from the site's burials revealed an exceptionally high number of injuries, especially to the head, likely to have been caused by interpersonal violence. The graves contained a quantity of swords, other offensive weapons used in conflicts. The presence of shoulder decorations and armour suggests a distinct military and/or clan culture, that has, according to some authors similarities with the Thai Iron Age sites such as Noen U-Loke and Ban Non Wat. Funan is only known from Chinese sources, which according to most modern historians are doubtful. The polity was fully established around the 1st century CE and consisted of "walled political centers", which implies a desire to be prepared for some kind of conflict and to be protected from attacks. Some authors also argue that Funan was "expansionist" and might have maintained a sizeable navy that conquered regional coastal settlement centers. However, the Champasak territory of Laos was aggressively incorporated, although this might have taken place after the establishment of Funan's successor state - Chenla. Some modern historians such as M. Vickery have redirected research and focus on archaeology, local genealogy and examined the suspicious size fluctuations and curious shifts of central power that characterized Chenla. Consequently, they argue, that Funan and Chenla, in particular, are terms not to be taken too seriously and accept greater political and military division among the elite. As contemporary Chinese sources on Chenla only provide factual reference points, such as the claim that by 616/617 CE the kingdom of Chenla is the region's new souvereign and...the conqueror of Funan. In 802 CE a powerful and contentious ruling dynasty united sizable territories and established the Khmer Empire. Khmer Empire Bas-relief in galleries of the Angkor complex in Siem Reap elaborately depict the empire's land and naval forces and conquests of the period (802 to 1431), as it extended its dominions to encompass most of Indochina. Hindu warrior kings, who actually led troops in battle, did not customarily maintain standing armies but raised