An archaeological excavation team was shocked to find a fully intact Buddha torso statue from the 12th or 13th century measuring 3.75 feet tall.
The torso find at a Cambodian temple matches a Buddha head discovered at the same location... in 1927.
The two discoveries were made about 164 feet and almost 100 years apart.
While excavating the Ta Prohm temple in Angkor in 1927, a team of archaeologists discovered the head (and only the head) of a Buddha statue. They then brought their find—which has been dated to the 12th or 13th century—to Cambodia’s National Museum in Phnom Penh, where it has sat by itself for nearly 100 years.
Ninety-eight years after their early-20th-century peers, another group of archaeologists were working at the temple complex when they made a discovery of their own. While sifting through 29 statue fragments, they discovered something far larger than a fragment: a 3.75-foot-tall Buddha torso statue in the Bayon art style, dated to the 12th or 13th centuries and curiously missing its head.
You can see where this is going, right? If it seems too good to be true, an optical electronic scan confirmed the separate pieces were a match, according archaeologist Neth Simon (as reported by the Associated Press).
“It was a big surprise when we unearthed this sculpture because all we’d found so far were small pieces,” Simon said.
The statue’s torso was crafted with a robe and sash, carved jewelry, and a left hand crossing the chest—“an uncommon representation in Khmer (Cambodian) art.”
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As fascinating as the find would have been on its own, it stands a head taller thanks to the reunification possibilities with the 1927 discovery. The recently discovered torso was found just 164 feet from where the statue’s head was found 98 years before. Naturally, the archaeological team plans to seek approval from the Minister of Culture and Fine Art to reunite the two pieces.
Angkor, a 154-square-mile UNESCO World Heritage Site, is considered one of the most important archaeological locations in southeast Asia, and is the largest religious monument in the world, according to Angkor Enterprise. The Angkor Archaeological Park features the remains of different capitals of the Khmer Empire—which stretched from the ninth century to the 15th century—as well as the famed Temple of Angkor Wat and a host of other temples. The entire site comes with sculptures aplenty (many of them with bodies intact).
Angkor Wat was constructed as a Hindu temple and dedicated to the god Vishnu, but it gradually shifted to become a Buddhist temple by the end of the 12th century. The best-preserved temple at the site, it has remained a significant religious center since its foundation, and the high classical style of Khmer architecture gives it a distinct design—one that even adorns the Cambodian national flag. But Angkor Wat isn’t the only temple attracting attention, even as it serves as the flagship to the other sites at the complex.
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The Ta Prohm temple is believed to have been built in the late 12th and early 13th century, according to Tourism Cambodia. Known as the “jungle temple” because of the trees and roots growing out of its walls, the temple was founded as a Buddhist monastery and university. The site has been largely left in its original condition, thanks to the trees intertwining with the ruins. Fans of the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider might know it as the filming location at which Croft, played by Angelina Jolie, picks a jasmine flower growing from the temple wall before a chasm in the earth opens, pulling her into the temple (that part was, for the sake of Ta Prohm, shot on a soundstage).
The Angkor complex attracts roughly one million international tourists annually as the most sought-after tourist spot in Cambodia. The nature of the area as a population center filled with temples makes it especially alluring for archaeologists.
Making a 1927 discovery new again with the possibility of connecting the two pieces? Well, that’s a special treat. “As an archaeologist,” Simon said, “I would be really happy.”
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Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.