Word: khmers
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...prevent further deterioration of the Angkor monuments, scientists need to explore what made the ancient society work. At a minimum, they have to understand the remarkable water-management system created by the Khmers. Beginning in the late 9th century a succession of Kings constructed enormous reservoirs, some as large as 20 sq. mi. These barays and a complex gravity-fed network of moats and canals provided an almost continuous supply of water so that three rice crops a year could be grown. That production enabled Khmer Kings to extend their empires and build temples to their own divinity...
...most recent threat to Angkor arose during Cambodia's 20-year-long civil war, which began in the early 1970s. The Khmer Rouge, whose genocidal reign of terror killed an estimated 1 million Cambodians, did little direct damage to the monuments, but the fighting made maintenance impossible. Says B. Narasimhaiah, the head of an Indian archaeology team at Angkor Wat: "Wherever there is a small crack, dust will accumulate and soon a bush will spring up." All but a few of the major temples are covered in weeds, small bushes and even large trees...
Less obvious, but more insidious, is the water damage, according to archaeologist Richard Engelhardt, the director of UNESCO operations in Cambodia. The water system was neglected for centuries, and it totally collapsed following the construction of grandiose hydroprojects by the Khmer Rouge. They dammed the Siem Reap River, an integral part of the ancient system, in order to create their own baray farther north. As a result, the moats and canals surrounding the temples of Angkor turned into swamps...
...that the civil war is over, teams from Japan, France and Poland want to begin similar work on other monuments. The most ambitious project would be the restoration by Polish specialists of the Bayon, the last great temple built before the collapse of the Khmer civilization. Most of the temples at Angkor are Hindu, but the Bayon was built as a Buddhist shrine. While Angkor Wat soars, the Bayon suffocates. It is crowded with 54 sandstone towers, each with four carved visages of a complacently smiling future Buddha, or bodhisattva. The faces are probably likenesses of the temple's builder...
...environmental conditions in the Angkor region. The study will make zoning recommendations for future development -- particularly tourist access -- of what will be known as the Angkor Archaeological Park. But the investigation's main emphasis will be on the hydrology of the area and the possibility of restoring the ancient Khmer water system. Such a project could take until the end of the century to complete and cost more than $10 million. It would entail dredging the old moats and canals, restoring the Siem Reap River to its prewar state and refilling some of the old barays with water...