Mystery of Angkor Wat's massive stones solved - they were 'brought to the area by a massive network of canals'

Findings reveal how 12th century temple complex was built out of millions of stone blocks weighing up to 1.5tons in just a few decades

By Damien Gayle

PUBLISHED: 1 November 2012

dailymail.co.uk

The huge stones from which the Cambodian temple complex Angkor Wat is built were carried to the area by a series of since-filled in canals, a new study claims.

The 12th century temple complex is built from five to ten million sandstone blocks weighing up to 1.5 tons that were hewn from quarries at the base of nearby Mount Kulen.

It was built during the reign of just one king, raising the question of how so many stones where transported from the sacred mountain to the temple site in just a few decades.

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Angkor Wat at sunrise: The 12th century temple complex is built from five to ten million blocks sandstone blocks weighing up to 1.5 tons - with their means of transportation to the site a long-standing enigma

King Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire started work on the 500-acre temple in the 12th century and work ended just after his death in circa 1150.

Situated in the imperial capital Angkor, the complex was initially intended to honour the Hindu god Vishnu but by the 14th century later rulers had converted the site into a Buddhist temple, in which use it continues today.

It is so deeply engrained in the Cambodian national consciousness it appears on their national flag and a rumour that a Thai actress had claimed the temple belonged to Thailand sparked riots in 2003.

Scholars had previously assumed the Khmers must have floated the stones used to build Angkor Wat 22 miles down a canal to Tonle Sap Lake, carried on rafts another 22 miles to the Siem Reap River, then arduously rowed upstream the final 10 miles to the site.

But the difficulty of moving so many stones via this 56 mile route led Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, to scour satellite images to see if there could have been a shortcut.

Ancient artisanship: Angkor Wat is situated in the capital of the once great Khmer empire, which held sway over huge parts of south-east Asia for hundreds of years

The Khmer empire was noted for its use of canals as a means of transportation, and the archaelogists discovered traces of a network leading directly from the foot of Mount Kulen to Angkor.

Field surveys confirmed their findings, and the pair now believe this gentle 21 mile route was a far more likely proposition than the journey of more than twice that length previously suggested.

They also discovered a series of quarries along the way with stones that matched those of the temples.

Mike Hendrickson of the University of Illinois, Chicago, told New Scientist that the Japanese researchers' could be confirmed by hunting down any blocks that may have fallen overboard while in transit on the canals.

This locator map shows the relative locations of Angkor Wat and Cambodia: Archaeologists scoured satellite images to discover traces of a network of canals linking the two sites

In its day, the Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in south-east Asia, at its height spreading across parts of modern day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma and Malaysia.

Angkor, the imperial capital, is its greatest legacy and bears testament to the Khmer empire's immense power and wealth with recent satellite imaging revealing it to be the largest pre-industrial urban centre in the world.

After a series of wars and invasions, the story of Angkor faded from historical accounts from about 1350, with the capital of the Khmers moving south and east to the site of the modern Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

Ecological failure is the latest theory as to the final fall of the Khmer kingdom, with population growth placing the society's elaborate system of canals, reservoirs and paddy fields under massive strain.

To adapt to the growing population, trees were cut down from the Kulen hills and cleared out for more rice fields. That created rain runoff carrying sediment to the canal network, stifling their civilisation's lifeline.

Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned.

Archaeologists believe it's remarkable state of preservation is partly due to to its moat which provided some protection from the encroachment of the surrounding jungle.

Video: Chinese engineers work on the restoration of Angkor Wat in Cambodia