Cambodia News, Phnom Penh: A large stone statue of a "lion", suspected of being an ancient artifact, was found buried in the ground at the construction site of a Japanese financed clean water project on the riverside at Preah Sisowath Quay, Daun Penh district.


At 4:30pm on Friday, 4 September 2020, the excavators came across a large mass of rock buried more than 2 meters from the surface. The works were suspended and the authorities were informed when it became apparent that they had dug up a statue .
Mr. Sam Piseth, Director of the Department of Public Works and Transport of Phnom Penh was called to the scene, and officials from the Department of Culture and Fine Arts came down to clean and inspect the statue.

Photos Kohsantepheap

Good on the workers for stopping and not just ripping it up

Massive Lion Sculpture Uncovered in Cambodia
Friday, September 11, 2020

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA—According to a report in The Phnom Penh Post, two pieces of a six-foot-tall statue of a lion were unearthed by mine-clearing experts preparing the site of a new groundwater reservoir along the Tonle Sap River. Hab Touch of Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said the large size of the statue suggests it may have been part of a bridge. Further study of the sculpture at the National Museum could offer clues to when it was carved. “We cannot make assumptions of the lion that we found during mine clearance for the reservoir plan because we don’t have any connections regarding the statue,” explained museum director Chhay Visoth. “Normally, we can know the date of an artifact by identifying other things around it.” To read about a bodhisattva statue discovered in Angkor, go to "Around the World: Cambodia."
https://www.archaeology.org/news/9020-2 ... ion-statue