Función objetivo

Since the 1950s some parts of the area west of G4W, between the moat and the pavilions, have undergone reconstruction. EFEO reconstructed the moat steps in front of the gopura, and initiated the restoration of the main causeway, completing the southern half. The restoration of the northern half was initiated in 1995 by APSARA and Sophia University, using the northern area between the gopura and the moat to store stone material from the central causeway. To protect the stones, layers of rubble were piled in lines in front of the gallery next to the base, now overgrown but still in place. Those layers are visible in the IKONOS satellite image of 2004.

FIG [62]:WORK CONDUCTED ON THE SOUTH STEPS OF THE MOAT BY THE ANGKOR WAT –WESTERN EMBANKMENT RESTORATION

PROJECT OF 2002(PLAN & IMAGE: COURTESY V.SANTORO).

In the late nineties, the sandstone steps of the moat located south of the causeway collapsed between the two southern staircases. They were reconstructed in 2001/2 by an Italian- Cambodian team lead by Valter Santoro and field architect Kong Kanthy, see Fig. [62]. The excavation work for the reconstruction and an emplacement of drainages seemed not to have extended further than 5 m from the top steps, and therefore only partly affects the results of the GPR survey.

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GPRS

A ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey at Angkor Wat was conducted over eight days from December 2009 into January 2010; see Fig. [63] and for interpretation Fig. [64]. The purpose of the survey was to investigate potential additional buried archaeological features inside the enclosure of Angkor Wat, around Gopura 4 West to the temple platform. The area was extended to conduct additional surveys in June 2010 to reveal potential symmetrical features at the other

gopura. A total of 22 grids, covering overall an area of 42903m2 _{or 4.3hectares was surveyed.} The survey detected several groups of structural features – some to the west of the entrance gate but mainly east of G4W. The symmetrical assembly of the cluster of structures east of the

FIG.[63]:GPR-SURVEY OVERVIEW, CENTRAL AREA (BASE PLAN:POTTIER,1993).

Survey Area between the Moat and the Gopura 4 West

West of the G4W, thus outside the large enclosure of Angkor Wat, the GPR results display strong evidence of two linear features, almost symmetrical, running north (N6) and south (S6) from the main axial causeway. Each feature follows about 50 meters straight north and south and then inclines towards the elephant gates at the extremities of the G4W. The strong reflection, its depth as well as the symmetry of the features, indicates laterite or sandstone masonry and they are unlikely to be just compacted earth. Another smaller feature (S12), that showed very strong reflection by the GPR signal in about 2 m depth is in the far south just east of the southern “elephant gate” in front of the staircase of the moat. As described above, the lanes of rubble in the north, from the restoration of the causeway and visible in aerial images, are confirmed in top soil images, but do not affect the results overall. The area that was excavated in the south is showing up in the results as well, though the linear feature is still detectable. Finally, the GPR identified another couple of symmetrical anomalies (N5, S5) located between the central and the two side pavilions of G4W. The western portico of the central pavilion is framed on each side by what has been interpreted as a masonry wall or a foundation substructure corresponding probably to the remains of a platform. Nothing is presently visible on the surface.

FIG.[64]:GPR-SURVEY INTERPRETATION, NUMBERING OF ANOMALIES (BASE PLAN:POTTIER,1993).

East of G4 W: The Central Part

East of the G4W, and inside the large enclosure of Angkor Wat, the major features identified by the excavations of 1919, 1920 and 1951 were confirmed in the survey, see Fig. [65] However, the survey shows that some of the features partially noted previously formed a distinctive configuration which can be interpreted as an inner and an outer set of cruciform features centred on (and partially covered by) the axis of the central causeway and aligned with three pavilions of the G4W. The many rough, low, square columns noted in the southern part of the old EFEO excavation plans might not have been visible in the GPR surveys because of a survey line spacing of 50 cm.

The survey identified six square stone foundations, each of about 10m x10m, and showing remains of porticos on the sides in each axial direction. Among the five structures, the two eastern ones (N2, S2) are aligned with the northern and southern side pavilions of the G4W, forming nearly a square. Within this rectangle, four structures (N3, S3, N4, and S4) are also visible in symmetrical alignment, forming another smaller square in its centre. Two additional and similar laterite bases have been unearthed in 1919 and 1920 directly east of the southern and northern side pavilions of G4W. The northern one is not clearly distinguishable in the survey and might have been destroyed since the excavations, perhaps when the path to the north was constructed. A long linear feature has been identified in the area. It defines a kind of “enclosure” on the eastern side of G4W, which contains all the foundations mentioned above. Its eastern side is about 50 meters east of the central pavilion of G4W, turning at right angle to the west at a distance of about 60 meters away from the axial causeway, and joining the eastern side

of the galleries of G4W. The north half of its east side was not detected north of the causeway as it corresponds presumably to an area unsuitable for the GPR survey (where the open drainage channel is located that is associated with the 1960s reconstruction of the path perpendicular to the second staircase of the causeway). Nevertheless the northern side of the feature was detected, showing the existence of a symmetrical layout north of the causeway.

FIG.[65]: INTERPRETATION OF GPR RESULTS, CLOSE UP TO CENTRAL AREA (BASE PLANS:POTTIER,1993 AND BOISSELIER,1951).

Outside the “enclosure” in the east several potential structures are worth mentioning. There are four irregular features (N13) visible directly adjacent to the causeway west of the “enclosure wall”, that could indicate remains of an earlier, but now overbuilt configuration of the causeway. Finally just east of the enclosure wall, there are two features north and south of the causeway - the northern one (N8) showing very weak radar reflection, while the southern (S8) one clearly indicates a lateritic structure. Although the features are not in direct symmetrical alignment with each other, they could be related to the enclosure.