Archeological Dig Starts at Angkor Thom

[geovalin]

An archeological dig at the ancient capital of Angkor Thom started on Monday in search of metal tools from the Kingdom’s Angkorian era. The École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), a French institute dedicated to the study of Asian societies, started the dig in cooperation with the Apsara Authority.

EFEO representative Eric Vincent, who is leading the French team of archaeologists, told Khmer Times that the main goal of the dig was to understand how tools were made from bronze and other metals in Angkorian Cambodia. “Although we have already some ideas about the tools made from bronze and other metals and the furnaces used to produce those tools in Angkorian times, we still want to study deeply about this matter,” Mr. Vincent said, adding that some of the metal tools found in Cambodia are unique to the country.

The EFEO has published previous findings on Angkorian tools discovered during a dig in 2013, but the present dig is meant to substantiate these findings. The dig will also be used to train Apsara Authority officials and officials from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in archeological research, Mr. Vincent said.

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