[Talk] Recent Discoveries from Angkor Wat and Srah Srang

The SPAFA SESH is a series of online talks/discussions and presentations about the archaeology and fine arts of Southeast Asia. The upcoming Sesh on Monday 20 July is a presentation by Im Sokrithy of the APSARA Authority about the recent discoveries from Angkor Wat and Srah Srang. (Disclosure: I work for SEAMEO SPAFA in my day job, and I will be running this sesh)

Earlier this year, several spectacular discoveries were made by research teams working at the Angkor Archaeological Park. Early in April 2020, archaeologists from the APSARA Authority accidentally discovered many hundreds of fragments from damaged Buddha statues in Angkor Wat. They were found during ground clearing around the third enclosures of the temple, near the foot of Mahabharata gallery, firstly two Buddha torsos. A research team investigated the site and excavated for an area of 15 square meters over 50 days, unearthing nearly 300 fragments of damaged Buddha statues dating from the 12th to 19th centuries. Additionally, the restoration team from the APSARA Authority has been working on a project to restore a stone structure in the middle of Srah Srang, the Royal Pool. During routine excavations to understand the extent of the structure to be repaired, APSARA archaeologists found extraordinary artefacts: more than ten thousand of colourless crystal quartz; thousands of fragments of stone carvings; metal objects; wooden structure remains on base of stone structure; and a pair of stone turtles.

The Sesh is live on SEAMEO SPAFA’s Facebook page, and also via Zoom (registration required).