Archaeologists says statues unearthed at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat are biggest in 8 decades

By Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Archaeologists at Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temple complex say they have unearthed the largest Buddhist statues there in eight decades.

Ly Vanna, an artifacts expert for the government’s Apsara Authority that oversees the site, said Thursday the two stone statues found at Ta Prohm temple were headless but the larger one if complete would stand about 10 feet (3 meters) tall. He says the statues are believed to date from the 12th century and are the biggest discovered since the 1930s.

Saurav Ray of the Indian embassy says the statues were found by workers carrying out the Archaeological Survey of India’s 10-year, $4 million restoration project. Angkor’s rehabilitation follows decades of neglect due to civil war.