Mysterious tower populations buried beneath Angkor Wat temple

Australian archaeologists' research shows the existence of mysterious towers beneath the temple of Angkor Wat.

According to UPI, archaeologists from the Greater Angkor project from the University of Sydney, Australia, combine aerial laser scanning technology (LIDAR) with traditional excavation methods to find new clues about Angkor Wat populations. in Cambodia . The discovery shows that Angkor Wat temple is really massive and much more complicated than today's image.

Located 8 towers south of Angkor Wat temple.(Photo: Till Sonnemann).

The team discovered a buried area with a unique structure and scale in the south of the temple."This structure is 1,500 meters long, 600 meters wide. This is the most striking finding of Angkor Wat to date. However, its function has not been clarified and there is no equivalent building in the world. Angkor, " said Roland Fletcher, professor of archeology at the University of Sydney.

The researchers determined that eight towers were erected and destroyed during the first period of the main temple building. These towers can act as temporary temples.

Archaeologists and historians have long argued that Angkor Wat included only religious works. But the latest observations reveal the existence of civil structures such as roads, ponds, and mounds, which can serve people working in temples.

View of aerial view of Angkor Wat.(Photo: Mike Coe / University of Sydney).

"This really challenges the previous knowledge of researchers about the social hierarchy in the Angkor Wat community. The area around the temple is probably not just for the rich or clergy." , Fletcher said.

In the new survey published in Antiquity magazine on December 7, the researchers found the presence of a wooden defense structure that was born quite late. Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century by the Khmer empire. Around 1585, the work could be the last line of Khmer defense against the invasion of neighboring Ayutthaya.

"Angkor Wat is the first and only Angkor temple that has been systematically remodeled for defense purposes , " Fletcher said.