Archaeologists conducting safeguarding work on the royal palace at Angkor Thom, a Khmer temple complex in Cambodia, have uncovered 12 sandstone guardian statues.

The discovery came during a Cambodian-Chinese initiative to assess the structural integrity of the palace’s north gate, one of four such entrances. In particular, researchers were hoping to locate stonework that had fallen from the building. The door guardian statues were found at depths of up to 4½ feet in an area running alongside an exterior wall.

“The statues vary in size and shape, and each statue includes unique facial expressions and hair ornaments, which adds to their distinctiveness,” said APSARA National Authority, the government organization that manages Angkor Archaeological Park, in a statement. “Experts believe these door guardian statues exemplify the Khneang style, aligning with the construction period of the 11th-century palace.”

One of the 12 statues in the ground. Photo: APSARA National Authority.

The statues, which depict guardian warriors standing to attention, are an architectural element common across Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina cultures. Typically, such statues offer warriors armed with a weapon, such as a mace, and were deployed to protect royal or religious places.

After discovering the statues, the archaeologists documented their positions before removing them for cleaning and restoration, after which the authorities plan to return them to their original position at the temple’s north gate.

Three guardian statues that were found at Angkor Thom. Photo: APSARA National Authority.

Angkor Thom sits within the Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is spread across 155 square miles. The park contains the ruins of several capitals of the Khmer Empire, which from the 9th century through the 15th century controlled a territory that covers modern-day Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and parts of Vietnam. The best known site is Angkor Wat, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Archaeologists at work at Angkor Thom. Photo: APSARA National Authority.

The size and topography of Angkor Archaeological Park are such that researchers continue to unearth artifacts and structures that reveal aspects of Khmer civilization. In September, researchers found another well-preserved sandstone door guardian statue in a remote and seldom-visited temple. This discovery followed excavations earlier this year in which archaeologists found more than 100 pieces of sandstone Buddha statues during an excavation of Ta Prohm temple, in the center of the park.

This rediscovery of Khmer artifacts is running in parallel to repatriation efforts that are seeing previously stolen objects return to Cambodia. In August, for instance, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, together with private American collectors, returned 70 Khmer cultural objects that had been stolen in the 1970s. More than 1,000 Khmer artifacts have been returned since the late 1900s.