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00:10An iconic temple.
00:15The largest religious monument in the world.
00:20Is an enduring enigma.
00:21The engineering feat of Angkor Wat is unbelievable.
00:25In the heart of one of the greatest ancient cities ever built, Angkor.
00:30The largest, if not the largest, city in the world at the time.
00:33Home to over 1,000.
00:35Each new king would try to outbuild the reign before and build a...
00:40bigger and more impressive temple.
00:42But then the temples and the city were engorbed.
00:45Involved by the jungle.
00:46It mysteriously was abandoned.
00:50Or so the story goes.
00:53There are few clues.
00:55Almost every wooden remain and the vast majority of structures that I'm...
01:00Angkor were built in wood.
01:01Deteriorate very, very quickly.
01:04And many missed...
01:06The lack of...
01:07Bodies.
01:08One million people.
01:09Not a body.
01:10Bone.
01:11Not a cremated.
01:12Remain.
01:13It was fascinating and frustrating.
01:16There's another story there, sitting underneath.
01:18Now, archaeologists...
01:20Are using the latest technologies to reveal Angkor's hidden secrets.
01:25The LiDAR data.
01:26She used some machine learning algorithms.
01:28To see through the jungle.
01:29The LiDAR...
01:30The LiDAR data is absolutely mind-blowing.
01:32It was all an engineer landscape.
01:34And look in...
01:35Into the past.
01:36I really like the pages of a history book.
01:38To find new evidence of a great...
01:40Great civilization.
01:41They didn't just build Angkor Wat, which is a spectacular temple, right?
01:44Like, they were...
01:45We're transforming the entire landscape.
01:47Angkor.
01:48Hidden Jungle Emperor.
01:50Right now, on NOVA.
01:55I have torn open a site for folder to NATO.
01:56But we can break them up to the top of specific places.
01:57Hide theные字 ruiners.
01:58I have at the top of the Confederate Sicht.
01:59I have so many stuff held by Tampa.
02:00I am so sorry!
02:01I am so sorry!
02:02Kiiantes!
02:04Iaison, does not have renovated.
02:16He came from his arsenal.
02:19Can I tell?
02:20Thanks forvik één alternative.
02:21Thank you so much!
02:23filled with intricate carvings and mysterious figures.
02:28It is the largest religious monument in the world and a masterpiece.
02:33of ancient engineering.
02:36The engineering feat of ANCOR
02:38is unbelievable.
02:40It's amazing.
02:43ANCOR WAT is the centerpiece of the ancient city of ANCOR.
02:48A marvel of vast infrastructure,
02:51built with a network of human...
02:53...unmade canals and enormous reservoirs.
02:57ANCOR was the...
02:58...the heart of a wealthy and dynamic empire
03:01that thrived for 600 years.
03:03Then, around 1300, suddenly the buildings stopped.
03:07This...
03:08vast, ornate city was largely abandoned.
03:12Why?
03:13Archaeologists like Pip-Al-Hang are trying to answer that question.
03:18And to understand the people of ANCOR.
03:21Monumental architecture like ANCOR WAT
03:23has been its signature.
03:24When you talk about ANCOR, it's a monument.
03:27Part of...
03:28My archaeological endeavor is to understand ANCOR.
03:33people's life.
03:34What did they do?
03:35What was the relationship between the people and the city?
03:38The relationship between the people and the temple?
03:42And how did...
03:43that change through time?
03:44That changed through time.
03:48The ancient city...
03:52The ancient city...
03:53of ANCOR was one of the biggest pre-industrial cities in the world.
03:58It's located in Cambodia, in Southeast Asia.
04:01It's legendary temple...
04:03ANCOR WAT
04:04is its most iconic structure.
04:08But ANCOR WAT
04:09is the largest of more than a thousand temples
04:12spread across more...
04:13than 150 square miles.
04:18A lot of these temples have really been left to the jungle.
04:21So trees are overgrowing them, the vegetation...
04:23is everywhere.
04:24And when you walk into them...
04:25you sometimes feel like you're the first person that's...
04:28stepped foot in them for over a thousand years.
04:32The temples themselves...
04:33have a sense of mystery to them.
04:35You don't know exactly what happened here...
04:36or why they were abandoned.
04:38This land has been home to the Khmer people for thousands of years.
04:43living in small kingdoms...
04:45often in conflict with each other.
04:48until the year...
04:49802...
04:50when Jayavarman II...
04:52defeated...
04:53his rivals...
04:54and declared himself...
04:56a God-King...
04:57in the Hindu...
04:58tradition...
04:59and founded the Khmer Empire.
05:03nearly 100 years later...
05:05the capital of the empire...
05:07was moved to a...
05:08new site...
05:09on a fertile plain...
05:10the city of Angkor.
05:14Over the next 500 years...
05:16the empire became the dominant...
05:18power in Southeast Asia...
05:20ruling over all of what is now Cambodia...
05:23and much of Vietnam...
05:24Thailand...
05:25and Laos.
05:27The kings...
05:28who were considered holy...
05:29ruled both political...
05:30and spiritual life.
05:32Each successive...
05:33ruler...
05:34strove to demonstrate his greatness...
05:35through major construction projects.
05:38each new king...
05:39and each new reign...
05:40would try to outbuild...
05:41the reign before...
05:42and build...
05:43a bigger...
05:44and more impressive...
05:45temple.
05:46As Angkor grew...
05:48so did the temples...
05:49in number...
05:50and size...
05:51until...
05:53the 1300s...
05:54when temple construction...
05:55abruptly stopped.
05:59Evidence suggests...
06:00that by the mid-1400s...
06:03Angkor stood empty.
06:08it...
06:09mysteriously...
06:10was abandoned.
06:13or so the story goes...
06:15and so this place...
06:17has...
06:18attracted the...
06:19fascination of people...
06:20from around the world...
06:21for many...
06:22many hundreds...
06:23of years...
06:24partly because...
06:25the city itself...
06:26is so prodigiously...
06:27massive.
06:28and partly because...
06:30all of this...
06:31was apparently...
06:32left to the jungle...
06:33by the Khmer.
06:34The abandonment...
06:35of Angkor...
06:36is an enduring...
06:37mystery...
06:38who were the people...
06:40who lived here...
06:41and why...
06:42did they leave?
06:43the answers...
06:44are important...
06:45not just...
06:46for the archaeologists...
06:47who were...
06:48excavating here...
06:51Many...
06:52Cambodians...
06:53identify as Khmer...
06:54and are deeply...
06:55invested in this...
06:56ancient place.
06:58Angkor...
06:59is central...
07:00to their heritage...
07:01connecting them...
07:02to their ancestors.
07:03Angkor...
07:05holds a profound...
07:06place...
07:07in Khmer...
07:08life.
07:09The very word...
07:10Angkor...
07:11is deeply rooted...
07:12in our...
07:13international identity.
07:15Angkor...
07:16we can say...
07:17for the Khmer people...
07:18it's our soul.
07:19Everyone...
07:20of the Khmer people...
07:21say that...
07:22we want to see Angkor...
07:23before...
07:23we die.
07:24But...
07:25the full truth...
07:26about Angkor...
07:27and its people...
07:28has been...
07:28elusive...
07:29because so much...
07:30of the city...
07:31has long...
07:32lain hidden...
07:33beneath the jungle...
07:33in the canopy.
07:36We only know...
07:37of Angkor...
07:38what this...
07:38one square...
07:39kilometer...
07:40temple...
07:41as being...
07:42a religious temple...
07:43a sacred space.
07:43but...
07:44were there any...
07:45people...
07:46living inside Angkor...
07:47we did not know yet.
07:48we also...
07:49tried to map...
07:50the area...
07:51and the vegetation...
07:52was too thick.
07:53it was...
07:54overgrown.
07:55It's incredibly difficult...
07:56for archaeologists...
07:57to map...
07:58the center of Angkor...
07:58where all the large...
07:59temples are...
08:00because of all...
08:01the dense vegetation...
08:02but now...
08:03with the help of new...
08:04technology...
08:05archaeologists...
08:06are trying to see...
08:07what has been invisible...
08:08for...
08:08centuries.
08:09That's where...
08:10the LiDAR data...
08:11comes in.
08:12LiDAR...
08:13is a powerful...
08:14laser technology...
08:15that has recently...
08:16become a game changer...
08:17for archaeologists.
08:18LiDAR has been...
08:20absolutely...
08:21revolutionary...
08:22for our field...
08:23of archaeology...
08:23because it allows us...
08:24to see the ground floor...
08:25underneath...
08:26dense vegetation.
08:28we acquire LiDAR data...
08:29by putting a drone...
08:30or a helicopter...
08:31or a plane...
08:32in the air...
08:33with the LiDAR...
08:33device on it.
08:34These devices...
08:35send out millions...
08:36of pulses of light...
08:37most of those pulses...
08:38bounce off things...
08:39that we're not interested in...
08:40like buildings...
08:41or trees...
08:42but some of them...
08:43critically...
08:44reach the ground surface.
08:45What we do...
08:46is we measure the time...
08:47that it takes...
08:48for those...
08:48ground returns...
08:49to return...
08:50to the LiDAR...
08:51device...
08:52and using those...
08:53measurements...
08:54calculate...
08:53distance...
08:54with that information...
08:56we can then...
08:57strip away...
08:58all the vegetation...
08:58so we can...
08:59clearly see...
09:00these archaeological...
09:01features.
09:02The LiDAR...
09:03scans...
09:04revealed...
09:05the breathtaking...
09:06size of the city.
09:08the data...
09:09was spectacular...
09:10all of a sudden...
09:11we could see...
09:12these elements...
09:13of the urban space...
09:13that were...
09:14completely invisible...
09:15before.
09:16The LiDAR data...
09:17is like...
09:18the most amazing...
09:19treasure...
09:18map...
09:19not because...
09:20we're looking...
09:21for gold...
09:22or statues...
09:23but because...
09:24it allows us...
09:25to ask...
09:26bigger...
09:27and better...
09:28questions...
09:29you...
09:30you...
09:31you...
09:32you...
09:33you...
09:34you...
09:35you...
09:36you...
09:37you...
09:38you...
09:39you...
09:41you...
09:43you...
09:44you...
09:45you...
09:46you...
09:47you...
09:48you...
09:49you...
09:50you...
09:51you...
09:52you...
09:53you...
09:54you...
09:55you...
09:56you...
09:57you...
09:58you...
09:59you...
10:00you...
10:01you...
10:02you...
10:03you...
10:04you...
10:05you...
10:06you...
10:07you...
10:08you...
10:09you...
10:10you...
10:11you...
10:12you...
10:13you...
10:14you...
10:15you...
10:16you... you...
09:52the city hidden in the data were the keys to knowing how
09:57and where the citizens of Angkor lived because Angkor
10:02is built on a floodplain.
10:03All of the features were built on mounds.
10:05So when we're looking at the light,
10:07inside our data, we're not seeing ancient houses themselves,
10:10but we're seeing the mounds of these houses.
10:12were once built on.
10:14This is Angkor Wat.
10:17Which is absolutely beautiful in the LiDAR data.
10:21So these are...
10:22Depressions and elevations in the land that we can very clearly see in this LiDAR image.
10:27But it's almost impossible to see these features on the ground because the vegetation is just...
10:32so dense.
10:33All of these black dots are house pawns and beside them...
10:37are usually house mounds.
10:39Within the Angkor Wat temple enclosure itself...
10:42the LiDAR revealed more than 200 of these mounds.
10:47Using the LiDAR maps as a guide,
10:49Pipple Hang set out to investigate these sites.
10:52on the ground.
10:53Those mounds are generally habitation sites.
10:56When we...
10:57We saw a similar pattern inside the Angkor Wat enclosure.
11:01We started...
11:02to excavate those mounds.
11:04Turned out that those mounds have...
11:07residential cities.
11:08Ceramics.
11:09Encolian stonewares.
11:10And...
11:12straightware from China.
11:13So what we didn't know was those mounds and ponds were...
11:17arranged into a grid system.
11:19That's when LiDAR came around.
11:22So here we are in the eastern...
11:27section of the Angkor Wat enclosure.
11:29What I am standing on now...
11:31what have been...
11:32house mounds.
11:33And because of the...
11:34overgrowth...
11:35we can't halt the town...
11:36the department.
11:37topographic change.
11:38But...
11:39LiDAR map allows us to pick up...
11:40just a slight topographic change.
11:42that allow us to identify...
11:44whether this area was mounds...
11:46upon...
11:47to my light.
11:48The LiDAR data...
11:49shows that we are standing...
11:51in...
11:52an urban block...
11:53that is replicated...
11:54into...
11:55other urban blocks...
11:56covered...
11:57including...
11:58the entire...
11:59Angkor Wat enclosure.
12:01You can tell when you're walking...
12:02around...
12:03that there's mounds there.
12:04It's really forested...
12:05but you can see...
12:06that the landscape...
12:07undulates...
12:08quite a bit.
12:09Archaeologist...
12:10Allison Carter...
12:11has been collaborating...
12:12with...
12:12Papal...
12:13to try to decipher...
12:14what life was like...
12:15at the Angkor Wat complex.
12:17The LiDAR...
12:18in Angkor...
12:19was...
12:20incredibly eye-opening...
12:21because...
12:22you just see that...
12:22they didn't just build...
12:23Angkor Wat...
12:24which is a spectacular temple...
12:25right?
12:26Like...
12:27they were transforming...
12:28the...
12:27entire landscape...
12:28and...
12:29transforming it...
12:30with extreme...
12:31precision.
12:32If you look at the temple...
12:34structures...
12:35and align them...
12:36with the gates...
12:37uncle what you would see that the grid system was actually aligned with the
12:42sample it was all an engineer the landscape the remarkable urban design
12:47of the Khmer extended to the even larger royal complex Angkor Thom
12:52Thom you can see this is Angkor Wat there's a huge moat
12:57it's very visible from the satellite imagery and then up here is Angkor Thom
13:02you can see the moat of Angkor Thom but you really can't see all of that detail that
13:07becomes so clear and obvious in the lidar data so you can just imagine
13:12when you enter Angkor Thom through these magnificent gates
13:17it would have been a bustling city on either side of you again and again
13:22lidar revealed sprawling neighborhoods around Angkor's more than 1,000 temples
13:27combining this with the fines from excavations on the ground
13:32and new technologies a team of archaeologists is finally able to craft
13:37one of the city's biggest mysteries the size of Angkor's population
13:42at its peak around 1250 to answer that question of how many people lived at
13:47Angkor we compiled all of the data that we had C-14 dates ceramic evidence from
13:52excavation excavation and excavation and we used some new cutting-edge algorithms
13:55and machine learning techniques
13:57to try to model the development of the city over time
14:01I was part of a
14:02group of people that were working on trying to understand the growth of the city of Angkor
14:07Angkor if we compare this one is better that one's better it's a much bigger piece yeah so that
14:12would be great to collect from this mound that's a really good example of how we can bring in
14:17good old-fashioned on-the-ground dirt archaeology with all of these new technologies from our excavation
14:22it seems like there's just one household or family per mound we use ethnographic
14:27data then to estimate that there's about five people in a family another important piece
14:32data was from inscriptions a lot of the temples have foundation dates and that was really important
14:37to understand when they were built and inscriptions in two of the larger
14:42temples provide crucial clues about the population which are of special interest to our
14:47archaeologist Andrew Harris they actually list the numbers of
14:52example staff these include government officials dancers laborers
14:57and also how many people that the temple staff oversaw
15:02the surrounding villages numbering between 200,000 and 300,000
15:07for both temples and then Sarah took that data the lidar data she used some machine
15:12learning algorithms we brought this all together to try and create a model for how Encore grew
15:17the final estimate from their calculations was staggering from our estimates we think
15:22at its height that it had about 700 to 900,000 people living in the greater Encore region
15:27that would have made it one of the largest if not the largest city in the world at the time
15:32the discovery of Encore's true size was a major breakthrough
15:37but it was all the more impressive because of Encore's location because
15:42the entire city was built on a water-soaked floodplain
15:47every year the rainy season brings massive rainfall and heavy flooding
15:52floodplain my family my family's connection with Encore runs deep
15:57during my childhood my grandparents and my parents
16:02frequent the pagoda in Encore so I've been coming to Encore since
16:07yeah forever growing up here provides a different perspective
16:12a different perspective on the water we have the great lake to the south
16:17the lake level changed drastically during the rainy season particularly around
16:22October and November the great Tonle Sap lake often quadruple
16:27in size in the rainy season flooding vast areas of the countryside
16:32in the dry season nearly half the year almost no rain falls
16:37why would the Khmer build in a place with such extreme swings between flooding and drought
16:42and droughts water is incredibly important for the Khmer empire almost every day
16:47everything revolves around it and one of the most important functions was irrigating the
16:52main agricultural crop of the empire rice the economy of
16:57Angkor was underpinned by rice agriculture which is heavily dependent on a stable supply of
17:02water there's a strong relationship between water the floodplain the wet rice agriculture
17:07agriculture and the early phase of Angkor period as the Khmer m
17:12empire and city expanded controlling the flow of water was key for their economy
17:17trade and ability to feed a growing population but how did
17:22they do it visible remnants suggested there had once been a complex water
17:27system but it took lidar to reveal the full scope of the Khmer
17:32air engineering so with the lidar we were able to create this map which very clearly
17:37shows the layout of the water management system and how water flows into the city
17:42through the city and then how there are exit channels to remove excess water
17:47the design was both ambitious and ingenious a series of massive reservoirs
17:52reservoirs called burais collected water in the rainy season so here at Angkor
17:57Angkor we can see the large brides here's the west and east bride and then all of these straight lines
18:02funneling into the city these are man-made water channels
18:07so this is rerouting water from northern areas of cambodia in
18:12angkor the water was captured from natural river
18:17rivers and moved into storage in these massive reservoirs those burais were really the center
18:22the centerpiece of the whole system the largest burais stretched across more than six
18:27square miles all of these features are so big they
18:32you can literally see them from space that's the beginning
18:37the beginning of Angkor's power water management those reservoirs
18:42are fantastically important they hold huge volumes of water which can be distributed in the dry season
18:47if you want a second crop of rice for example so it really kind of super boosts your productivity in those
18:52parts of Angkor which are downstream of those reservoirs and the system
18:57extended far beyond the city itself the landscape around
19:02Angkor is actually at a slight incline about one percent so the east and west broad can catch
19:07water as it comes into the city hold it and then redistribute it through the different channels
19:12the water was a major feat of urban
19:16the water was a major feat of urban
19:17urban engineering with hundreds of miles of canals and reservoirs all dug
19:22by hand but the floodplain also created a major challenge
19:27for an empire intent on creating monumental architecture
19:32it's a bit of a difficult spot for building heavy temples like Angkor
19:37so in order to do this they had some really ingenious engineering strategies
19:42how did the Khmer manage to build massive stone structures on soft deep soil
19:47soil surrounded by water the first clue may be in the choice of building
19:52soil section 1 experts
19:53Indian
20:03Indian
20:08Нав
20:12rang
20:19Angkor's temples are built of fine-grained sandstone, well-suited for
20:24intricate carvings, but appearances can be deceiving.
20:29Just under the ornate facade lies the first secret of Khmer construction.
20:34Hidden within the walls and foundation are blocks of a wall.
20:39It's a rough, porous stone called laterite that can be even lighter than sandstone.
20:44In terms of the web, it's...
20:49Less heavy.
20:50The core inside, they build in the lateral, and then...
20:54They put the lampstone around for decoration.
20:58The whole temple...
20:59The walls built in that concept.
21:03Using the lighter...
21:04The outer laterite greatly reduced the load on the soft ground.
21:07But the stone temples are...
21:09They are still incredibly heavy.
21:12The stone that forms Angkor Wat...
21:14Towering over 200 feet high...
21:17Weighs millions of tons.
21:19And yet, it has survived the wet terrain for over 900 years.
21:24There must be more to the engineering.
21:29But what?
21:32Archaeologist, Nett Simone.
21:34Leads restoration teams for Upsara.
21:37Her excavations are focused on understanding...
21:39The key elements of ancient Khmer engineering.
21:43Do you like the pot?
21:44As a result of the excavation to see the condition of the foundation.
21:49I was able to understand the ancient techniques in building the temple.
21:54We observed that before shaping the temple itself.
21:59The ancient builders began by digging down to reach the natural soil.
22:04They then began compacting the soil inside.
22:09The next step involved filling the foundation with fine pink sand.
22:15This was followed by the laterite foundation.
22:17This was followed by the laterite foundation.
22:19Above it, they laid the base layer using sandstone.
22:24Any trip to the beach reveals...
22:26Dry sand is soft and ships easily.
22:29While wet sand, closer to the water, holds firm.
22:33Water...
22:34Water and sand together can create a solid base for construction.
22:38This could be...
22:39one reason the temples at Angkor were surrounded by moats.
22:44The first thing that we can see is that all of these temples have water features around them.
22:48So each temple which is
22:49marked in red, they tend to have moats around them.
22:53They build
22:54on the sand layer.
22:56And we understand that the sand layers
22:58need a lot of water.
22:59A lot of the humidity to make it stronger, to support the load.
23:04The moats were, and still are, key to maintaining the
23:09required level of moisture beneath the biggest buildings.
23:12The water in the moats provides to
23:14stability to the sand, which allows them to hold the heavy, heavy stone structures up.
23:19These innovations demonstrate that the Khmer
23:24were masters of hydraulic engineering.
23:27As do the hidden features
23:29that enabled Angkor's massive reservoirs, the Berais, to function.
23:34Cambodian archaeologist Ann Sopit and
23:39his team are excavating a unique location on the edge of the Eastern Berais.
23:44An ancient reservoir long dry, and now covered in jungle.
23:49Right in front of me is the East Berais.
23:52Right in front of me is the East Berais.
23:54A water reservoir from the Angkor era.
23:57These are the ruins of an
23:59ornate stone pier overlooking the Berais.
24:02The Cambodian government hopes
24:04to restore the pier and partially repair the reservoir to make it functional.
24:09once more.
24:10The first step is to understand how both were constructed.
24:14But while excavating the pier and
24:19the reservoir wall, they found an unexpected surprise.
24:24At the excavation site I opened here, we found the foundation
24:29of the pier, made from laterite rock.
24:34Underneath the wall of the Berais is a laterite stone foundation extending more than 50
24:39feet out into the reservoir.
24:44This work is important because it reveals a new discovery.
24:48We had never seen it before.
24:49We had never seen a construction with laterite sloping like this before.
24:54The first step is to determine if this massive foundation extends along the banks of the reservoir.
24:59beyond the area of the pier.
25:01beyond the area of the pier.
25:04We opened another excavation site 10 meters to the south and saw the structure continue
25:09to be
25:09with four more steps, but we only exposed a small section to confirm.
25:14In the future, we'll keep excavating to see if the laterite structures
25:19surrounds the water reservoir or ends somewhere.
25:23No one...
25:24One knows yet how far this stone foundation extends around the barai.
25:29If this structure goes around a reservoir or part of it,
25:34it would be a new discovery for the Angkor area.
25:38The pier itself was...
25:39with a very special structure for Angkor's Hindu god-kings.
25:43The raptor...
25:44This pier was used by the king to offer alms at the temple.
25:49Located at the center of the Eastern Reservoir.
25:53In the middle of the river,
25:54the river is located at the center of the Eastern Reservoir.
25:54In the middle of each reservoir was an island temple.
25:58The barais were more than just a...
25:59a brilliant piece of hydraulic engineering.
26:02Here's the East Buri and you can...
26:04clearly see, both in the mapping and in the lidar data,
26:07that there's a huge temple in the middle of it.
26:09These large reservoirs were both functional and spiritual.
26:13The...
26:14The kings of the Khmer Empire played both a political and a religious role.
26:18In addition to being headed...
26:19the army, the king was also a king god,
26:21so head of the religious system as well.
26:24Every king left an imprint of himself if he was powerful enough to...
26:29create a mark on the landscape.
26:31Dozens of temples here are reflective.
26:34of the absolute power over nature, over people.
26:39and over the landscape that they manifested during the rain.
26:44Over the centuries, rulers built larger and larger temples as...
26:49the Khmer Empire expanded.
26:51Early in his reign in the 1100s...
26:54King Suryavarman II outdid all his predecessors, building Angkor...
26:59Angkor Wat.
27:01Angkor Wat was a huge project.
27:03It would involve so...
27:04many workers and so many craftsmen to be able to build it.
27:07Dedicated to the hinge...
27:09the Hindu god Vishnu, nearly every surface of Angkor Wat was highly decorated.
27:14Traces of paint found on the carved walls and ceilings hint...
27:19at its ornate history.
27:20All of the reliefs on the temples were originally painted in...
27:24vibrant colors.
27:25Immense carved panels with scenes from Hindu...
27:29The Hindu texts run down vast hallways.
27:33Thousands of...
27:34priests, dancers, and attendants filled the temple and its grounds.
27:39It was a ceremonial center on a grand scale.
27:44Demonstrating the glory of Vishnu and the power of the king.
27:49Temples were not just places of worship.
27:51The kings were also using them to...
27:54demonstrate their power.
27:55So they probably were really acting as this kind of billboard for...
27:59the king and the king's power and putting his stamp on the landscape.
28:02Wealthy and...
28:04prosperous.
28:05The Khmer Empire was an attractive target for neighboring powers.
28:09Carved scenes at Angkor illustrate the story of one...
28:14major conflict.
28:15In 1177, the nearby...
28:19kingdom of Cham invaded Angkor in a surprise attack.
28:24To reclaim the city and restore power to the empire would take one...
28:29of the strongest of the Khmer kings.
28:32Jayavarman VII.
28:34In the year 1177, the Chams conquered Angkor and occupied Angkor.
28:40Jayavarman VII.
28:41Jayavarman VII.
28:42made it his vow to reconquer.
28:44And part of this is depicted through various campaigns of war.
28:49Warfare.
28:50This is probably the most elaborate of those campaigns and it involves a naval battle.
28:54What we can tell here is that one, it was intensive.
28:59It was violent.
29:00You could see the people falling overboard.
29:02Most of them have been stabbed or dead or...
29:04what not.
29:05And a lovely crocodile eating a poor Cham who's fallen overboard.
29:09So, through a series of campaigns lasting several years, he was able to...
29:14eventually vanquish the Chams.
29:18With the enemy...
29:19defeated and the Khmer back in power, Jayavarman VII would usher in Angkor.
29:24Angkor's golden age.
29:26During his reign, he gave back to the public in many ways.
29:29He constructed hospitals and he built a number of different temples.
29:32This is a scene of a hospital.
29:34Here you have women giving birth, making medicine.
29:38This...
29:39This was a major point during the reign of Jayavarman VII.
29:42He built, I believe, a hundred...
29:44and two hospitals across the Angkorian Empire.
29:49Alongside his support of public health, Jayavarman carried on the tradition of his Khmer...
29:54predecessors.
29:56Monumental construction.
29:57When kings came into power...
29:58When kings came into power...
29:59they all had specific mandates that they had to accomplish.
30:02And a lot of this revolved around temple building.
30:04Angkorian kings had an undocumented habit of...
30:09trying to one-up their predecessors.
30:11If you think about Suryavarman II, he built the...
30:14world's largest religious monument.
30:15Angkor Wat.
30:16Jayavarman VII left the large...
30:19architectural footprint on the Angkorian landscape of any monarch.
30:24Cambodian history.
30:25The pinnacle of his reign was the construction of Angkor Thom.
30:29An enormous complex more than five times the size of Angkor Wat.
30:34Angkor Wat.
30:35It is surrounded by eight miles of moat.
30:38And at its center...
30:39stands a temple different from any built before...
30:42or after.
30:44The Bayon.
30:45The Bayon.
30:46The Bayon is not a...
30:47The Bayon.
30:48The Bayon is not a...
30:49Hindu temple.
30:50Jayavarman was a Buddhist.
30:53All of the...
30:54elite temples.
30:55Up until the reign of Jayavarman VII were considered to be...
30:58Hindu temples.
30:59of various deities.
31:00One of the most interesting things about King Jayavarman VII...
31:04is that he switched the state religion from Hinduism to Buddhism.
31:08Hindu worship.
31:09This worship involves a pantheon of gods...
31:11and observation of rituals set out in the Vedic script...
31:14while Buddhism focuses on enlightenment through the teachings of the Buddha.
31:19The Bayon temple towers...
31:22feature 216...
31:24and enigmatic faces...
31:26that may contain a hidden secret.
31:29The faces on the Bayon and the gate are potentially...
31:31a Buddhist saint...
31:32or they're the king himself.
31:34And the reason we think it's Jayavarman VII himself...
31:39is because a number of the images that we know of Jayavarman VII...
31:43look almost...
31:44identical to the face towers on the Bayon and on the gates.
31:47Following the reign of Jayavarman VII...
31:49ending around 1218...
31:52Angkor was at the height of its...
31:54size and influence.
31:55What was life in Angkor like at its peak?
31:58Few...
31:59written descriptions have survived from the Khmer...
32:01but historians have one detailed account.
32:04In the 13th century, the emperor of China sent an emissary to Angkor.
32:09Joe Daquan was the ambassador of Mongolian control.
32:14to China...
32:15to Cambodia.
32:16He lived in Angkor sometimes between 12...
32:191296 and 1297...
32:21almost one year.
32:22Joe Daquan left us a journey...
32:24and it's incredibly valuable in terms of the types of details...
32:27that he wrote about.
32:28I'm not sure...
32:29if he intended for archaeologists to read this...
32:31but it sure provides a lot of information.
32:34around the outside of the city walls...
32:36there is a large moat...
32:38the walls of the...
32:39these bridges are made of stone...
32:40and carved into the shape of snakes.
32:43As an archaeologist...
32:44I refer to Joe Daquan constantly...
32:46he talks about how...
32:47poor people...
32:48live...
32:49lived in smaller houses...
32:50and their roofs were made out of thatch...
32:52but richer people would have bigger houses.
32:54and their roofs would be made with...
32:56ceramic roof tiles.
32:58Joe Daquan...
32:59Joe Daquan's journal...
33:00described scenes of everyday life.
33:03Their litter...
33:04covers are made of pieces of wood...
33:06that bend in the middle.
33:07a person sits in the cloth...
33:09and is carried by two people...
33:10one at each end.
33:12The parasols are made of a strong...
33:14thin...
33:15red Chinese silk.
33:18But how reliable...
33:19are Joe Daquan's descriptions?
33:22His descriptions of daily life...
33:24are actually backed up...
33:26by a lot of what we see...
33:27on the walls of...
33:28the Bion Temp...
33:29the Bion Temp...
33:30the Bion Temp...
33:31Joe Daquan...
33:32describes Encore...
33:33as a...
33:34bartering system...
33:35and he describes...
33:36a market day.
33:37He describes how...
33:38merchants...
33:39mostly women...
33:40would...
33:41lay down their blankets...
33:42and sell their wares.
33:45The local people...
33:46who know how to trade...
33:47are all women.
33:49small market transactions...
33:50are paid for...
33:51in rice...
33:52or other grain...
33:53in Chinese goods.
33:54larger in size...
33:56are paid with cloth.
33:58They're...
33:59there's these bas-reliefs...
34:00of people...
34:01cooking...
34:02and eating food...
34:03and then in our...
34:04archaeological excavation...
34:04we find really...
34:05similar materials...
34:06when we are...
34:08excavating...
34:09and...
34:09in occupation area...
34:10and you're like...
34:11oh...
34:12this looks just like...
34:13what's on the Bion...
34:14like...
34:15you can really see...
34:14how these different...
34:15sources of evidence...
34:16come together...
34:17to give you...
34:18a more complete picture...
34:19of the past.
34:19that record...
34:20represents...
34:21a fantastic contribution...
34:22to our understanding...
34:23of the life of the city...
34:24and at that time...
34:24the king and the court...
34:25were very impressive...
34:26the city was...
34:27enormous...
34:28and...
34:29there was clearly...
34:30a lot of wealth...
34:29sliding around...
34:30above the gates...
34:31are stone...
34:32Buddha heads...
34:33one of them...
34:34is decorated...
34:35with gold...
34:36in the center...
34:37of the capital...
34:38is a gold tower...
34:39Joe DiGuan...
34:41describes...
34:42Angkor...
34:43as a very active...
34:44very...
34:44vibrant...
34:45metropolis...
34:46he talks about...
34:47the significant...
34:48amount of wealth...
34:49coming out of the palace...
34:49so...
34:50Joe DiGuan...
34:51described...
34:52the temples...
34:53at Angkor...
34:54not as these...
34:55stone...
34:56mounds...
34:57that they are today...
34:58but...
34:59covered in gold...
34:59and very clearly...
35:00upkept...
35:01but...
35:02that upkeep...
35:03would not last...
35:04much...
35:04longer...
35:05Joe DiGuan's...
35:06record represents...
35:07the very...
35:08kind of...
35:09last gasp...
35:09Angkor...
35:10as a spectacular...
35:11opulent...
35:12thriving...
35:13metropolis...
35:14from that point...
35:15forward...
35:16things change...
35:17dramatically...
35:19to...
35:20to...
35:21to...
35:22to...
35:23to...
35:24to...
35:25this inscription...
35:26indicates that...
35:27this temple...
35:28was the very...
35:29last...
35:29new temple...
35:30that was...
35:31dedicated...
35:32at Angkor...
35:33we actually have...
35:34an exact date for it...
35:34since...
35:35the 28th of April...
35:361295...
35:37CE...
35:38which was...
35:39just a year...
35:40before Joe DiGuan...
35:41showed up...
35:42as far as we know...
35:43there are no...
35:44samples...
35:45after this one...
35:49as the 1300s...
35:51continue...
35:52Angkor...
35:53starts to decline...
35:54we start...
35:54to see evidence...
35:55from different sources...
35:56that population...
35:57starts to slide...
35:58there are no more...
35:59inscriptions created...
36:00no more...
35:59all temples...
36:00built...
36:01Official written...
36:02histories...
36:03of the Khmer...
36:04did not appear...
36:04again...
36:05until much later...
36:06there's a bit...
36:07of a black hole...
36:08in the historical...
36:09records...
36:09from...
36:10about...
36:11the 13th century...
36:12to...
36:13the 15th century...
36:14so it's a big gap...
36:14it's many hundreds...
36:15of years...
36:16what happened...
36:17to bring an end...
36:18to centuries...
36:19of prosperity...
36:20and monumental...
36:21construction...
36:22no big city...
36:23like this one...
36:24has ever...
36:24a single reason...
36:25for its...
36:26start...
36:27or its end...
36:28so...
36:29in that context...
36:30and in the complexity...
36:29of that story...
36:30we can start...
36:31to accept...
36:32that there's no...
36:33linear...
36:34simple...
36:35single explanation...
36:34for the demise...
36:35of a place like this...
36:36but rather...
36:37a tangle...
36:38of different explanations...
36:39that happened...
36:40to coalesce...
36:39at a particular point...
36:40the warm...
36:41and humid...
36:42environment...
36:43of the Cambodian...
36:44jungle...
36:44works against...
36:45the archaeologists...
36:46trying to shed light...
36:47on the declining years...
36:48of Angkor...
36:49the rainforest...
36:51does not help...
36:52because...
36:53almost every...
36:54wood...
36:54wooden...
36:55remain...
36:56and the vast majority...
36:57of structures...
36:58at Angkor...
36:59were built in wood...
36:59and...
37:00deteriorate...
37:01very...
37:02very...
37:03quickly...
37:04aspects of Angkor...
37:05today...
37:06is the complete...
37:07absence...
37:08of human remains...
37:09no bodies...
37:10no...
37:11burials...
37:12this is a very...
37:13fascinating thing...
37:14that's...
37:14childhood...
37:15archaeologists...
37:16for a long time...
37:17there are no...
37:18funerary...
37:19remains...
37:20until...
37:19much...
37:20later...
37:21so...
37:22for 600 years...
37:231 million people...
37:24not a bone...
37:25not a...
37:26cremated...
37:27remain...
37:28not a funerary...
37:29jar...
37:29not a trace...
37:31of a funerary...
37:32remain...
37:35the lack of...
37:36bodies...
37:37human remains...
37:38in Angkor...
37:39is...
37:40fascinating...
37:41and...
37:42frustrating...
37:43in many ways...
37:44it's very rare...
37:46for a city...
37:47which had...
37:48700,000 million...
37:49people in it...
37:49that there are...
37:50so few bodies...
37:51what happened...
37:52to the bodies...
37:53of the ancient...
37:54there...
37:55with Cho Da Kwan...
37:56he talks about...
37:57different burial...
37:58practices...
37:59the body is taken...
38:00to a remote...
38:01uninhabited...
38:02spot...
38:03where it is...
38:04thrown down...
38:04and left...
38:05after that...
38:06the vultures...
38:07crows...
38:08and...
38:09dogs...
38:10come and eat it...
38:11but the archaeologists...
38:13at Angkor...
38:14are struggling...
38:15to find the location...
38:16of the sky...
38:17burials...
38:18that Cho Da Kwan...
38:19described...
38:19where the dead...
38:20are left...
38:21to the elements...
38:22and animals...
38:23he said...
38:24that they...
38:24carried the dead...
38:25outside of the...
38:26Uncle Tom Gates...
38:27and then...
38:28left it...
38:29outside the wall...
38:30but when we...
38:29we look at...
38:30LIDAR data...
38:31outside the wall...
38:32what have been...
38:33just...
38:34settlements...
38:35everywhere...
38:34where was that...
38:35outside the wall...
38:36burials...
38:37do tell us...
38:38a lot...
38:39about...
38:40health...
38:41and the individuals...
38:42so...
38:43to find a graveyard...
38:44or even...
38:45to find...
38:44cremated burials...
38:45that would be...
38:46phenomenal...
38:47for encoding...
38:48archaeology...
38:49but so far...
38:50we have not found...
38:51evidence of a...
38:52burial ground yet...
38:54without the bodies...
38:58themselves...
38:59archaeology...
38:59archaeologists...
39:00are searching...
39:01for other clues...
39:02hoping to find out...
39:03when did everyone leave?
39:04Dan Penny...
39:07is focusing...
39:08on the...
39:09the eyes...
39:10and canals...
39:11and the sediments...
39:12below the surface...
39:13the sediment is...
39:14accumulating...
39:15at the bottom...
39:16of these...
39:17reservoirs...
39:18ponds...
39:19and so on...
39:20they end up...
39:19beautiful...
39:20little traps...
39:21for material...
39:22landing on the surface...
39:23and then settling...
39:24onto the sediment...
39:24and then...
39:25being buried...
39:26by subsequent layers...
39:27of material...
39:28and so it goes...
39:29layer upon layer...
39:30we can come along...
39:31hundreds...
39:32or thousands...
39:33of years later...
39:34and take these...
39:34samples...
39:35and find this...
39:36undisturbed material...
39:37which faithfully...
39:38records the conditions...
39:39that were...
39:39occurring...
39:40when they were...
39:41deposited...
39:42The moats...
39:43of Angkor Thom...
39:44are a fantastic archive...
39:44they've been...
39:45largely left alone...
39:46so we can...
39:47use them...
39:48as...
39:49natural archive...
39:49of change...
39:50through time...
39:54this core goes...
39:55all the way...
39:56back to...
39:57a...
39:58pre-angkor...
39:59so it goes...
39:59into the...
40:00alluvial soil...
40:01beneath...
40:02the moat...
40:03and we get the...
40:04whole sequence...
40:05all the way through...
40:04the rise and fall...
40:05of Angkor...
40:06and into the...
40:07modern day...
40:08After processing...
40:09Dan studies the...
40:10samples from the...
40:11sediment layers...
40:12under a powerful...
40:13microscope...
40:14so this guy...
40:15here...
40:16is a pollen grain...
40:17from...
40:18Lotus...
40:19this one...
40:19is a sedge...
40:20so it's another...
40:21aquatic plant...
40:22there's a huge...
40:23chunk of charcoal...
40:24coming out of...
40:24maybe a domestic fire...
40:25someone's fireplace...
40:26where they're cooking...
40:27could be...
40:28any source...
40:29but...
40:30it's invariable...
40:29commonly associated...
40:30with people...
40:31Radiocarbon dating...
40:32adds another layer...
40:33of information...
40:34most of the work...
40:35that I do...
40:36with Radiocarbon...
40:37is actually based...
40:38on dating...
40:39the pollen grains...
40:40themselves...
40:39each of these...
40:40pollen grains...
40:41is about...
40:4210 to 20...
40:43micrometers...
40:44in...
40:44diameter...
40:45a micrometer...
40:46is a thousandth...
40:47of a millimetre...
40:48so they're...
40:49pretty small...
40:49the types of...
40:51pollen grains...
40:52found at...
40:53different depths...
40:54in the...
40:54core...
40:55can reveal...
40:56when the ancient...
40:57moats were...
40:58well maintained...
40:59or filled with weeds...
40:59when moats are...
41:00being maintained...
41:01you'll often see...
41:02species rooted...
41:03into the sediment...
41:04at the bottom...
41:05of the moat...
41:04as opposed to...
41:05an unmaintainment...
41:06which is kind of...
41:07completely covered...
41:08by...
41:09ferns...
41:10and grasses...
41:11and other things...
41:12Once management stops...
41:13the moats...
41:14will quickly cover...
41:14with vegetation...
41:15We definitely find...
41:17evidence of...
41:18the water systems...
41:19not being maintained...
41:20once they're...
41:21abandoned...
41:22they are...
41:23permanently abandoned...
41:24and so that...
41:24represents a very...
41:25clear horizon...
41:26for us to say...
41:27hey...
41:28at this point...
41:29this water feature...
41:30is no longer being...
41:29managed...
41:30What we are...
41:31finding increasingly...
41:32from a range of...
41:33different variables...
41:34charcoal...
41:34among them...
41:35pointing to a...
41:36progressive decrease...
41:37in the intensity...
41:38of occupation...
41:39the very epicentre...
41:40of Angkor...
41:41as a city...
41:42all of these things...
41:43are decreasing...
41:44progressively...
41:45through...
41:44the 1300s...
41:45What could have...
41:47happened...
41:48at Angkor...
41:49in the...
41:49mid-1300s...
41:50that would have...
41:51caused the Khmer...
41:52to leave...
41:53and the reality...
41:54is that...
41:55we don't really know...
41:56what happened...
41:57there are a number...
41:58of different hypotheses...
41:59and probably...
42:00it was a combination...
41:59of all of them...
42:00So we need to...
42:01cast our mind...
42:02to what other reasons...
42:03might there have been...
42:04for people...
42:04to start leaving Angkor...
42:05there's another story...
42:06there...
42:07sitting underneath...
42:08which is...
42:09far more interesting...
42:09and far more important...
42:10Angkor was not...
42:12the only place...
42:13to suffer...
42:14for a major...
42:15population decrease...
42:16during the 1300s...
42:18the bubonic...
42:19plague...
42:20also known...
42:21as the Black Death...
42:22that killed millions...
42:23in Europe...
42:24came out...
42:24out of Asia...
42:25during this century...
42:26the timing...
42:27fits the abandonment...
42:28of Angkor...
42:29that is there any...
42:30evidence...
42:31of a connection...
42:32Evidence...
42:33of a connection...
42:34Evidence...
42:34of a pandemic...
42:35at Angkor...
42:36would be...
42:37revolutionary...
42:38the effect...
42:39of a pandemic...
42:40in a pre-industrial...
42:41city like this one...
42:42which was massive...
42:43and had a huge...
42:44population...
42:44would have been...
42:45catastrophic...
42:46and it would likely...
42:47have led to...
42:48very rapid...
42:49the community...
42:50population...
42:51particularly...
42:52by those people...
42:53that can move...
42:54there's evidence...
42:55of a pandemic...
42:56I can assure you...
42:57there will not be...
42:58because...
42:59if you...
43:00if you have a pandemic...
43:01here...
43:02you will find...
43:03bodies...
43:04right...
43:05because...
43:06there are...
43:07900,000 people...
43:08here at the peak...
43:09if you...
43:09have the...
43:10plague...
43:11here...
43:12it would have been...
43:13horrific...
43:14and there would be...
43:15no way...
43:16that people...
43:17would have been...
43:18if it wasn't...
43:21a cataclysmic event...
43:22if it wasn't...
43:23a cataclysmic event...
43:23could a slow decline...
43:25have been triggered...
43:26from within...
43:27the Khmer Empire...
43:28it's...
43:28itself...
43:30what changed...
43:31for the Khmer...
43:33a discovery...
43:37during the...
43:38celebration of...
43:39Angkor's...
43:40Ta Prom Temple...
43:41may provide a clue...
43:43to the...
43:44to the...
43:45to the...
43:46to the...
43:47Ta Prom...
43:48was constructed...
43:48as a Buddhist temple in honor of King Jayavarman, the seventh late mother.
43:53The first step taken by her team was to conduct an initial surgery.
43:58Our team discovered broken pieces.
44:03This is the place of a Buddha statue.
44:05Once our team began digging and cleaning,
44:08more and more of the statue began to emerge from the ground.
44:13More than 140 pieces in total.
44:18Many sculptures were buried, while others were left scattered around the temple ground.
44:23The top rope was buried in a temple ground.
44:28was not the only temple to see this kind of destruction.
44:33We're at Priya Khan Temple here. It was dedicated in the year 1191 to Jai...
44:38What's on the left here is a series of niches where the Buddha's
44:43have been completely hacked out. And we think that this was an act of religious violence.
44:48What would have caused the Khmer to turn against Buddhism?
44:51We believe that in the 13th century...
44:53one of Jayavarman VII's successors, Jayavarman VIII, was responsible for this.
44:58And shifted the royal cult from Mahayana Buddhism back to Hinduism.
45:02This act...
45:03was either due to religious reasons or even political reasons as a retaliation.
45:08against the reign of Jayavarman VII.
45:10After Jayavarman VII's golden...
45:13era under Mahayana Buddhism and Jayavarman VIII's Hindu backlash...
45:18the Khmer religion changed one last time...
45:22to an older...
45:23form of Buddhism called Theravada Buddhism.
45:26The Khmer Empire...
45:28was undergoing another major cultural and religious shift.
45:33King Indravarman III essentially switched the entire...
45:37release...
45:38religious ideology and landscape to Theravada Buddhism beginning during...
45:43his reign in the year 1296.
45:45Chinese ambassador...
45:48King Indravarman IV arrived at Angkor, just as the Empire moved...
45:51to worshiping a tarot...
45:53Buddhist temples called Viharas.
45:56Jodhagwan saw this society...
45:58that was in transition and changing,
46:01rather than more temples being constructed.
46:03It was now Vihara and monasteries.
46:06There was still construction...
46:08activities after 1295.
46:10The type of structures, the type of...
46:13people changed because of Theravada Buddhism.
46:16Because Theravada Buddhism...
46:18only required a terrace surrounded by...
46:21a boundary stone.
46:23And the Buddha statues and then...
46:25what that upper structure is.
46:27So that's...
46:28very simple.
46:29And that's what could drive a lot of change.
46:31The age of giant...
46:33ornate stone temples was over.
46:36The shift away from huge temples...
46:38and elaborate ceremony...
46:40not only meant less construction...
46:42but fewer...
46:43for monks...
46:44dancers...
46:45and religious staff.
46:46All this could have contributed...
46:48to a shrinking population at Angkor...
46:50in the 1300s.
46:52But what if...
46:53could have caused the Khmer...
46:54to completely abandon...
46:55such a vibrant city?
46:58or was there another...
46:59fatal blow...
47:00to Angkor?
47:01We don't...
47:02obviously have...
47:03historical record of climate...
47:04from Angkor.
47:05There was nobody here...
47:06recording it...
47:07at the time.
47:08So what we have to do...
47:09is look for...
47:10other sources of information...
47:11that can tell us that.
47:12We...
47:13exploited some tree ring records...
47:14from...
47:15the mountains of Vietnam...
47:16that tell us about...
47:17rain...
47:18fall in particular...
47:19and they tell us a really...
47:21interesting story...
47:22about variation...
47:23in weather and climate...
47:24during the period...
47:25where Angkor is...
47:26abandoned.
47:28the study showed...
47:30a series of droughts...
47:31at a time...
47:32when Angkor was...
47:33vulnerable.
47:34So those two...
47:36droughts occurred...
47:37from about the middle...
47:38of the...
47:3814th century...
47:39from about...
47:401350 onwards...
47:41and they lasted...
47:42for about two decades...
47:43more or less...
47:44at a time.
47:45So they were...
47:46really, really severe...
47:47quite profound...
47:48nothing like we...
47:48have seen...
47:49in the modern era.
47:50Angkor...
47:51had survived...
47:52droughts before...
47:53but this time...
47:54may have been...
47:55different.
47:56So you have the sense...
47:57that Angkor...
47:58is very...
47:58very successful...
47:59but it's building itself...
48:00into a state of...
48:01precariousness.
48:02So by the time...
48:03it gets to...
48:03the middle...
48:04of the 1300s...
48:05and you're hit...
48:06with a massive drought...
48:07and then a big...
48:08wet period...
48:09and another massive...
48:08drought...
48:09the whole system...
48:10starts to crack...
48:11and come apart...
48:12fractured it...
48:13shattered it...
48:14by...
48:13eroding...
48:14by...
48:15sedimenting...
48:16or infilling...
48:17canals...
48:18blowing up...
48:19banks...
48:20and...
48:21...
48:18reservoirs...
48:19doing all sorts...
48:20of damage...
48:21to the system.
48:22You need to have...
48:23the people...
48:23continue to have...
48:24that knowledge.
48:25Without...
48:26those people...
48:27everything collapsed.
48:28the lidar data...
48:29also reveals...
48:30some failures...
48:31in the water...
48:32management system.
48:33So here...
48:33we can see...
48:34where...
48:35a channel...
48:36cut through an embankment...
48:37you can see...
48:38that this is going...
48:38right through the middle...
48:39of a densely occupied...
48:40urban space...
48:41so this would have...
48:42been devastating...
48:43for the people...
48:44that were living here...
48:45at the time.
48:46And one of the other things...
48:47is we can see...
48:48that this failure...
48:48was never...
48:49repaired.
48:50At some point...
48:51in the 1400s...
48:52the city of...
48:53Angkor...
48:54was largely...
48:55abandoned.
48:56Only a handful...
48:57of farmers...
48:58monks...
48:59and religious pilgrims...
49:00remained.
49:01Over time...
49:02the...
49:03jungle...
49:04covered...
49:05the ancient heart...
49:06of the Khmer Empire...
49:07for over six...
49:08hundred years...
49:09the seasonal floods...
49:10and droughts...
49:11ravaged...
49:12the ancient...
49:13monuments.
49:14Today...
49:15Cambodians have...
49:16an ambitious plan...
49:17restore the ancient...
49:18hydraulic systems...
49:19and bring the water...
49:20back to Angkor...
49:21and the surrounding area.
49:23the ancient...
49:24ancestors...
49:25already...
49:26our ancient ancestors...
49:27already...
49:28designed...
49:29and built...
49:30working water systems...
49:31so as the...
49:32younger generation...
49:33our work is simply...
49:35to restore...
49:36and rehabilitate.
49:38we are combining...
49:39the use of...
49:40ancient technology...
49:41that already exists...
49:42with...
49:43our modern technology.
49:48restoring the channels...
49:50into the burais...
49:51to prevent flooding...
49:52and hold water...
49:53that...
49:54the northern...
49:55border...
49:56has been...
49:57successful...
49:58the northern...
49:58is now full. So is the West Burai, holding more than
50:0313 billion gallons of water. The project
50:08to widen the canals and fill the ancient
50:11moats continues.
50:13Including work on the moat around Angkor Wat.
50:18It doesn't matter.
50:23It doesn't matter.
50:23At the same time, that system allows us to
50:26save the water for the dry season.
50:28It's impossible to have this level today, if those
50:32system...
50:33are not put in place.
50:35Even in the end of the dry season, you will...
50:38have nearly the same water level in Angkor Wat mode.
50:43Angkor's legacy reaches beyond Cambodia.
50:48Angkor is a location.
50:49It's also a representation of a culture and a civil...
50:53organisation.
50:54The ways in which humans can flourish in difficult environments.
50:58It represents a celebration of the past and it
51:01represents a warning to our future.
51:03Angkor Wat.
51:04But for the Cambodian people, the centuries of history at
51:08Angkor, form a central part of their identity.
51:13Angkor Wat.
51:14Angkor Wat.
51:15Students are willing to start arial transition from the
51:16Angkor Wat.
51:18And the post Angkor Wat period, it's socialOL...
51:18transformation. After the collapse of Anko, it became a symbol of power.
51:23For the Khmer...
51:28Angkor is an important cultural symbol.
51:33A reflection of the Khmer identity and soul.
51:38All the local people want to pay the respect to Angkor.
51:43Angkor, for the Cambodian people, it's...
51:48A lot. Everything.
51:52The sacred...
51:53Aspect of Angkor.
51:55I never left Angkor. It's still here.
51:58I never left Angkor.
52:03It's still here today.
52:08It's still here today.
52:13It's still here today.
52:18It's still here today.
52:23It's still here today.
52:28It's still here today.
52:33It's still here today.
52:38It's still here today.
52:42It's still here today.
52:47It's still here today.
52:51It's still here today.
52:56It's still here today.
52:58It's still here today.
53:00It's still here today.
53:05It's still here today.
53:07It's still here today.
53:09It's still here today.
53:14It's still here today.
53:18It's still here today.
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