A one-meter-long statue of a turtle sunk beneath a reservoir

The archaeological team unearthed a one-meter-long statue of a turtle submerged in a reservoir near the sacred temple.

A team from the Apsara Authority, which manages the Angkor temple complex, has discovered a large one-meter-long statue of a turtle buried under a reservoir. The group found it at the Kandal Srah Srang temple on the grounds of the archaeological park of Siem Reap province, Cambodia.

Found a nearly a meter long sandstone statue.

It is a large turtle-shaped sculpture, made of ancient sandstone, with a width of 58 cm and a length of 93 cm. The archeological group had to ask for water to unearth the statue.

According to experts' initial judgment, the turtle statue is most likely used to participate in spiritual offerings during the construction of Angkor Wat and offerings to the Hindu god Vishnu.

On turtle shells, there is no carved pattern.

Archaeologist Chea Socheat said that the turtle has no specific pattern. As of April 7, the lower half of the statue was still on the ground because the team wanted to keep the statue intact when it was lifted. It is unclear how much the statue weighs.

In addition, archaeologists also discovered ancient artifacts and objects in the pond that were used in the daily life of the ancients. The discovery of turtle statues is important, but experts have not been able to draw conclusions about the objects or why they were placed under the lake.

The Kandal Srah Srang Temple is one of the many wonders of the Angkor Wat complex built by the Khmer empire. This empire was heavily influenced by Buddhism and Hinduism. Most of this temple is submerged under artificial water reservoirs.

Srah Srang Reservoir is located within the archaeological site of Angkor.

According to archaeologist Socheat, Kandal Srah Srang Temple was built around the 10th century, then renovated between the 12th and 13th centuries.

Besides the large turtle statue, the team began excavating at the temple since March 27 and found many ancient artifacts.