Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:12:25.488Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The buried ‘towers’ of Angkor Wat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2015

Till F. Sonnemann ,
Dougald O'Reilly ,
Chhay Rachna ,
Roland Fletcher  and
Christophe Pottier
Till F. Sonnemann
Affiliation:
Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Van Steenis Building, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, the Netherlands (Email: tillsonnemann@hotmail.com)
Dougald O'Reilly
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia (Email: dougald.oreilly@anu.edu.au)
Chhay Rachna
Affiliation:
Angkor International Centre of Research and Documentation, APSARA National Authority, Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia (Email: chhayrachna@gmail.com)
Roland Fletcher
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney, Quadrangle Building A14, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia (Email: roland.fletcher@sydney.edu.au)
Christophe Pottier
Affiliation:
l'École française d'Extrême-Orient, The Bangkok Centre, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Center, 20 Borommaratchachonnani Road, Bangkok 10170, Thailand (Email: pottiersydney@gmail.com)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The impressive architecture of Angkor Wat conveys a sense of harmonious design, but recent survey using ground-penetrating radar (GPR), coupled with targeted excavation, reveals a more complex picture. Fragmentary traces of a quincunx of earlier towers have been detected, which were partially demolished when the outer enclosure and western gateway were completed. Are these the remains of a shrine used during the construction period? If so, they throw new light on associated ritual activity during the building of Angkor Wat.

Keywords

Southeast AsiaCambodiaAngkorground-penetrating radar
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 89 , Issue 348 , December 2015 , pp. 1420 - 1438
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boisselier, J. 1951. Rapport Juillet 1951. Rapport de la Conservation d'Angkor. Siem Reap: l'École française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Boisselier, J. 1966. Asie du Sud-Est Volume 1: Le Cambodge. Paris: Picard.Google Scholar
Cunin, O. 2007. The Bayon: an archaeological and architectural study, in Clark, J. (ed.) Bayon: new perspectives: 138–229. Bangkok: River Books.Google Scholar
Dumarçay, J. & Royère, P.. 2001. Cambodian architecture: eighth to thirteenth centuries (Handbook of Oriental studies. Section three, Southeast Asia. Volume 12). Leiden & Boston (MA): Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, R.J., Evans, D., Pottier, C. & Rachna, Chhay. 2015. Angkor Wat: an introduction. Antiquity 89: 1388–1401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glaize, M. 1944. Les monuments du groupe d'Angkor. Saigon: Portail.Google Scholar
Groslier, B.-P. 1967. Rapport annuel 1967. Rapport de la Conservation d'Angkor. Siem Reap: l'École française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Kong, V. 2005. Archaeological excavation inside tower N1, Prasat Suor Prat, in Nakagawa, T. (ed.) Report on the conservation and restoration work of Prasat Suor Prat Tower (Siem Reap: JSA): 61–71 & 104.Google Scholar
Marchal, H. 1923. Journaux de fouilles. Handwritten diary at l'École française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris.Google Scholar
Nafilyan, G. 1969. Angkor Wat. Description graphique du temple (Mémoires Archéologiques 6). Paris: l'École française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Nakagawa, T. (ed.). 2005. The masterplan for the conservation & restoration of the Bayon Complex. Tokyo: Japan International Cooperation Center.Google Scholar
Parmentier, H. 1935. La construction dans l'architecture khmère classique. Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient 35: 243–311. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/befeo.1935.3946 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parmentier, H. & Marchal, H.. 1920. Angkor Vat—rapport Avril 1919—Avril 1920. Rapport de la conservation d'Angkor. Siem Reap: l'École française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Peri, N. 1923. Un plan japonais d'Angkor Vat, in Bulletin de l’École française d'Extrême-Orient 23: 119–26.Google Scholar
Pottier, C. 1993. Documents topographiques de la Conservation d'Angkor. Paris: l'École française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Santoro, V.M. 2005. Historical city of Angkor—Angkor Wat—west embankment restoration project. Unpublished PPT presentation, Siem Reap: IGESSNC.Google Scholar
Sonnemann, T.F. 2011. Angkor underground—applying GPR to analyse the diachronic structure of a great urban complex. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Sydney. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/8069 (accessed 09 October 2015).Google Scholar
Sonnemann, T.F. 2012. Discovery and interpretation of a buried temple in the Angkor Wat enclosure, in Tjoa-Bonatz, M.L., Reinecke, A. & Bonatz, D. (ed.) Connecting empires and states. Selected papers from the 13th International Conference of EurASEAA: 226–35. Singapore: NUS Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, M., Evans, D., Rachna, Chhay, Piphal, Heng & Carter, A.. 2015. Residential patterning in Angkor Wat. Antiquity 89: 1439–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, P. 1933. L'evolution de l'architecture khmer et les transformations de la ville d'Angkor. Journal Asiatique 222: 352–54.Google Scholar
Uchida, E., Cunin, O., Shimoda, I., Takubo, Y. & Nakagawa, T.. 2008. AMS radiocarbon dating of wood samples from the Angkor monuments, Cambodia. Radiocarbon 50: 237–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar