Six prehistoric ceramic pots were donated to the Apsara National Authority (ANA). ANA
Technical officials from the Apsara National Authority’ (ANA) Angkor Ceramics Museum have begun work on repairing six prehistoric ceramic pots recently donated by a resident of Puok commune in Siem Reap province.
The ANA, a body tasked with managing the Angkor Archaeological Park, said on April 11 that Phoeun Phavi, a resident of the commune’s Kork Thmey village, volunteered to hand over six prehistoric ceramic pots for cleaning, repair and maintenance according to archaeological techniques.
These six ceramic pots are in fragile situation, noted Vong Savuthy, technical officer of Angkor Ceramics Museum under the ANA’s Department of Cultural Development and Heritage Norms.
He said he speculated that the pots may have been cast during the end of the Iron Age.
Savuthy said the shape of the ceramics indicated they were used as pots and bowls, and have a maximum and minimum height of 15cm and 9cm. Four of the ceramic pots are said to be in good condition while the other two have cracks and will require repairing.
He said the provision of the prehistoric artefacts to the ANA for preservation will be beneficial for the authority to study the daily lives of prehistoric people. Currently, there is little evidence or documentation of that period compared to the later historic period.
The ANA thanked Phavi for her donation with a certificate of appreciation and unspecified financial support.
The technical officer said there are 117 similar pots in the museum, all of which were discovered in the Angkor area. About 50 of them were found by the villagers or unearthed by rain.
He said that after receiving these six pots, the team will remove the salt that Phavi had used the pots to store so that they do not continue to rot.
“We’ve just transferred the pots to the warehouse of the Angkor Ceramics Museum at Tani village. The first work we have done is to remove the salt from the six pots in order to stop the decay of the pottery, after which there will be no more chemical reactions with air,” he said.
Phavi said that she initially bought the six pots in the Phnom Dangrek area in Oddar Meanchey province from merchants who did not store them properly, causing some damage to the artefacts.
She saved the pots for many years and was waiting for an opportunity to hand over to the ANA for conservation. She expressed worry that the next generation would not be able to care for them properly.
“I did not think that I could keep them [the pots] for long because all members in my household are young and do not understand the value and fragility of ancient artefacts. So I decided that only the ANA can take care of all these [pots] for a long time. Moreover, I want to contribute to the preservation of our cultural heritage for the next generation to discover,” she said.
Phavi said she was “very excited and happy” to participate in the conservation and to hand over the artifacts to the ANA. She called on others in possession of such artefacts, or who chanced upon them, to hand them over to relevant institutions and not to sell them as they were “Cambodian treasures”.
