Researchers working in Cambodia’s Angkor archaeological park have uncovered a sandstone door guardian statue in a remote and seldom-visited temple.

Known as a dvarapala, the statue is a widespread architectural element across Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina cultures. Typically, such statues are portrayed as warriors armed with a weapon, such as a mace, that serve to protect royal or religious places. The Angkor statue measures five feet and two inches tall, has been broken into six pieces, and is missing part of its defensive stick.

All the same, the Apsara National Authority (ANA), which is responsible for managing and researching the 250-square-mile park, said it was in good condition. The statue is in the Bayon style, one associated with serene and mildly smiling Bramha faces that was adopted in the last state temples built at Angkor.

“A significant archaeological find has been made at the Banteay Prei Temple,” ANA said in a statement. “The statue was located to the east of the temple’s second gate, buried approximately 80 centimeters under the ground.”

The statue will be housed and analyized at the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum. Photo: courtesy APSARA National Authority.

It is believed that the statue was buried due to the collapse of the upper structure of the nearby gate. Archaeologists were working on clearing rubble and debris from the temple so as to make it more accessible.

Banteay Prei, located five miles north of the main temple complex at Angkor, is off the beaten trail, with its nearest major temple being Preah Khan. Both Preah Khan and Banteay Prei temples were built by King Jayavarman VII to honor his father in the late 1200s or early 1300s.

“The sandstone gate guardian will now be stored at the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum,” Angkor Wat’s heritage police said in a statement. “It will be preserved and studied further.”

Guardian statue discovered at the Banteay Prei temple in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. Photo: courtesy APSARA National Authority.

Due to the size and topography of Angkor archaeological park, researchers continue to unearth artifacts and structures that shed light on the Khmer civilization that stretched from the 9th through the early 15th century. For instance, earlier this year, archaeologists found more than 100 pieces of sandstone Buddha statues during an excavation of Ta Prohm temple, in the center of the park.

The writings of French naturalists in the 1840s spurred European interest in Angkor Wat. Today, it welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists each year and has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1992.