Statue Fragments Uncovered at Angkor Wat

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA—The Khmer Times reports that 141 statue fragments were uncovered in Angkor Wat by Apsara Authority workers who were installing an irrigation system. The statue fragments are thought to make up 21 Buddha statues, although no heads have been recovered. “The statues were buried and mixed up with some modern items, including a metal door frame, glass shrapnel, a bicycle bell and rim, and even plastic bags,” said project manager Srun Tech, who thinks the statues were buried in the 1960s or 1970s. Tech added that the statue pieces had been buried in an orderly manner, perhaps to protect them from theft. He thinks the heads and other missing parts may still be buried at the twelfth-century temple complex. To read about the head of a bodhisattva statue that was recently unearthed at Angkor, go to "Around the World: Cambodia."