Several ancient artefacts, including Buddha statues and ceramic tiles, were discovered last Thursday under the recently excavated grounds of Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC) next to Wat Phnom in the capital.
The items, some of which are made of metal, have been collected by officials from the Department of Heritage at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the Electricity Authority of Cambodia and other relevant ministries and departments.
The officials will preserve the artefacts for study and research.
The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts’ Department of Culture director Chum Vuthy told The Post on Sunday that Electricity Authority of Cambodia officials informed the department on Thursday that they had discovered the statues and tiles after excavating the ground on the east side of the EDC compound.
EDC is beginning construction of a new building for its electrical administration officials to provide better services to clients.
Vuthy said after receiving the news, he reported the find to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, as well as officials of other relevant institutions, so they could to visit the site and collect, store and study the items and determine their age and history.
“The Buddha statues and tiles are made of sandstone and metals."
"At this time, our experts still do not know when the archaeological artefacts were made, but it is likely to have been somewhere between the 13th and 14th centuries because that location was originally an old cave before the construction of Wat Phnom,” he said.
He said the haul is currently being kept in a safe place and will be temporarily registered pending further research.
The results of the experts' initial findings will be made public in the next few days, Vuthy said.
Meanwhile, he reminded members of the public who think they've discovered any ancient artefacts to report the find to the Department of Culture or the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts for examination.
