Students are exploring the excavations at Wat Chet Dei, situated in Siem Reap town’s Sambuor commune on July 10. ANA
The APSARA National Authority (ANA) recently took a significant step towards nurturing archaeological skills among Cambodian youth, according to ANA spokesman Long Kosal, after a group of 150 teachers and students embarked on a visit to an archaeological excavation site in Siem Reap province.
The July 10 visit saw the group exploring the excavations at Wat Chet Dei, situated in Siem Reap town’s Sambuor commune. The young visitors hailed from three high schools in Siem Reap: Angkor, 10 Makara and Hun Sen Prasat Bakong.
“This is the ANA’s strategy to cultivate the mindset of the successors in archaeology. Especially, the ANA wants young people to have a better understanding of their own culture’s roots and to orient their direction for future jobs,” Kosal explained.
Im Sokrithy, an archaeologist and director of the ANA’s Department of Research, Training and Communication, added further insight into this initiative.
“Since 2007, under a collaborative effort between ANA and international partners, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport has established a heritage education programme for students in selected primary and secondary schools situated within the heritage area,” he said.
This heritage education programme, focusing on Siem Reap, has earmarked two unique areas in Prasat Bakong and Krabei Riel communes.
Here, students can gain a deeper understanding of the history and community that reside within their heritage area.
“This visit is very important because we want students to understand the various sciences used in archaeological research and heritage conservation work for their future,” Sokrithy remarked.
On July 11, a joint archaeological excavation was conducted at an ancient temple site located not far southwest of Angkor Wat. This collaboration involved the ANA, the University of Hawaii and the University of California.
The aim of this research was to study the population that lived in Angkor and observe the changes in the urban community during the shift of religion and city relocation from Angkor to the south.
Heng Pipal, an archaeologist at the University of Hawaii and head of the research project, elaborated on the excavation.
“The design and styles let us determine the age of the temple, which was built during the 14th to 16th century. Therefore, the ancient Theravada Buddhist temple was built on the site of a temple dedicated to the great deity of Brahmanism, Vishnu or Preah Narayan,” he noted.
