Mysterious tower complex buried beneath Angkor Wat temple

Research by Australian archaeologists indicates the existence of mysterious towers beneath the Angkor Wat temple.

Location of the eight towers south of Angkor Wat. Photo: Till Sonnemann.

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

The team discovered a buried area with a unique and large structure to the south of the temple. "This structure is 1,500 meters long and 600 meters wide. This is the most prominent discovery of Angkor Wat to date. However, its function is not clear and there is no equivalent structure in the Angkor world," said Roland Fletcher, professor of archaeology at the University of Sydney.

Researchers have identified eight towers that were erected and destroyed during the early stages of the main temple's construction. These towers may have served as temporary temple complexes.

Archaeologists and historians have long believed that Angkor Wat consisted solely of religious structures. But recent observations have revealed the existence of civil structures such as roads, ponds, and mounds, possibly to serve the people who worked at the temple.

"This really challenges previous understandings of the social hierarchy within the Angkor Wat community. The area around the temple was probably not reserved for the wealthy or the clergy," Fletcher said.

In a new survey published in the journal Antiquity on December 7, researchers found that the presence of wooden defensive structures was quite late. Angkor Wat was built by the Khmer empire in the 12th century. Around 1585, the structure could have been the Khmer's last line of defense against the invasion of neighboring Ayutthaya.

"Angkor Wat is the first and only Angkorian temple ever systematically modified for defensive purposes," Fletcher asserts.

According to VnExpress