Over 10,000 Ancient Sites Discovered in Angkor Area, Including Temples, Bridges, and Ancient Villages

Approximately 10,188 ancient sites have been discovered within the Angkor Archaeological Park, which spans 401 square kilometers in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. These findings include temples, bridges, ancient roads, ancient settlements, and water management systems. Yith Chandarath, Deputy Director-General of the National Authority for Apsara (ANA), explained the significance of these ancient sites. Ancient sites refer to locations or stations that are legacies, achievements, or works from past ancestors, remaining to the present day. They encompass religious worship sites, public infrastructure development sites, human habitation sites, artifact production sites, burial sites, and agricultural production sites. Traces of past human habitation, activities, and achievements serve as tangible evidence or crucial information that records the history of social evolution, human life, socio-economics, customs, traditions, religion, and social infrastructure. Ancient public infrastructure includes remnants such as temples, hospitals, rest houses, ancient villages, roads, bridges, and water systems (dams, canals). It also includes ancient water retention structures like reservoirs, irrigation channels, ponds, lakes, tanks, moats, and wells. According to ANA officials, the ancient sites in the Angkor region are categorized as follows: 1. Temples: Generally constructed from sandstone, laterite, wood, and brick, often surrounded by walls, moats, and adjacent to water bodies like moats, reservoirs, or barays. Examples include Koh Ker Temple, Preah Khan Temple, and Banteay Kdei Temple. Some temples face west (Angkor Wat, Wat Athvea), some face north (Preah Vihear), and others lack surrounding moats (Chau Say Tevoda, Dammanun). Some are accompanied by ponds, barays, or moats to the north (Banteay Srei, Beng, Kok Patoe, Reachea Juntol, Phimeanakas). 2. Ancient Roads: Significant evidence of the Khmer Empire's prosperity. Two types are identified: the five major roads connecting Angkor to surrounding cities, such as to Wat Phou (present-day Laos), forming a complex network. These roads are constructed by compacting earth in layers, raised above natural ground to prevent flooding during the rainy season, with canals on one or both sides as needed. They are easily identifiable by their directional connections between locations and are almost all recorded on ancient site maps. 3. Ancient Dams: Built to retain or divert water for flood prevention, redirection, or regional protection, and could also serve as roads. Constructed from compacted earth layers, similar to ancient roads. 4. Ancient Waterway Systems: Canals and dams are crucial waterway systems connecting districts for transporting goods, construction materials, supplying agricultural water, draining floodwaters, retaining water, and preventing inundation. Examples include the ancient canal from Amarindrapura (Ta Som area) to Harialay (Roluos) and to Isanapura (Kampong Thom), and the Sromach River. 5. Ancient Water Retention Structures: Barays are large water retention structures built by compacting earth into rectangular embankments, capable of storing millions of cubic meters of water. Other structures include ponds, moats, lakes, reservoirs, and wells. These water structures are significant evidence of the organization of communities living around them and also indicate the peri-urban areas of Angkor during the Khmer Empire. 6. Ancient Settlements (Koak Chas): Sites of ancient human habitation where people created settlements by digging and piling earth high above water for housing. These settlements were connected to ancient water structures. 7. Ancient Industrial Sites: Smelting furnace sites are mostly located northwest, north, and northeast of the Angkor region, near iron ore sources, for producing iron used in agricultural tools, hunting equipment, construction materials (temples), and weapons. Clay extraction sites for producing daily-use items like pots, bowls, and plates are also found around Angkor, especially on and around Kulen Mountain and Top Chey, where kilns produced pottery, tiles, pots, bowls, and plates. 8. Ancient Resource Extraction Sites: Quarries for sandstone and laterite used in building temples, bridges, roads, and other structures. Mining sites for metal elements used in producing agricultural tools, hunting equipment, construction materials, temples, and weapons. Source: Kampuchea Thmey Local