Ancient treasures in the backyard

Angkor Borei – about 70km south of Phnom Penh – is thought to be the location of one of Southeast Asia’s earliest cities. But rather than being protected and studied, looting of the remaining artefacts has become a subsistence-level cottage industry for the current residents

Showing off a vial containing specks of gold dust he had found on his own property, farmer Seak Savorn said he was proud to live in Takeo’s Angkor Borei district. “I live in a golden land where our ancestors used to live,” he said.

The specks – trace remains of those ancestors’ long lost glory – weren’t worth much, he said, but he hoped to collect more to sell for a few thousand riel.

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