Japanese Angkor conservation project, workers handling stones with a crane.
In 1992, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee (WHC) inscribed Angkor on the List of World Heritage in Danger to deal with the "urgent problems of conservation quickly and effectively" as the site and its soft sandstone structures had been poorly managed and were threatened by vegetation, water erosion, the elements, looting, and tourists. Nature and tourists were not its only threats, however, as much of the damage had previously been done by past archaeological work at the site. In 1907, France's Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient (EFEO) undertook an intervention at Angkor that lasted until 1931. The EFEO created shoring from reinforced concrete, replaced missing structural elements with reinforced concrete, and used steel bars, plates, and bands for bracing and strengthening purposes in Angkor. From 1931-1972 a new technique was adopted by archaeologists of the site: anastylosis, in which the complete dismantling and rebuilding of structures with the combined internal use of reinforced concrete was undertaken. In 1972, outbreaks of political upheaval lead to 17 years of conservation abandonment. This allowed Angkor to suffer vegetational invasion and abuse from military operations (mostly bullet holes). When, in 1989, conservation efforts were reinstated, the Archaeological Survey of India began a three year mission that removed the vegetation with fire, reconstructed various structures, and cleaned stone with abrasive techniques.
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Photo credit: © Scenics & Science / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: angkor, base, brahma, buddhist, carving, conservation, crane., handling, hindu, japanese, khmer, laterite, mortise, project, relief, stone, stones, suryavarman, tenon, vishnu, workers
