Field Activities for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of Ta Nei Temple in Angkor, Cambodia (Part X) – Excavation Survey of the Outer Enclosure Remains
As part of the project mission from January 9th to 24th, 2022, we conducted an excavation survey of the outer enclosure remains of Ta Nei temple Under restoration of the East Gate implemented in cooperation with APSARA, the reassembly work has already been finished. However, due to the lower land surface than the surrounding area, it has been problematic in that the rain water accumulates around the gate in the rainy season. We assumed that this could hardly happen with the original setting when the temple was built, in which it was believed to have been equipped with some form of water drainage system. With this assumption, we conducted an excavation survey to understand the land surface level and terrain status at that time to plan a water drainage system around the East Gate area.
We conducted an excavation survey at the three points along the base remains of the wall that used to connect to the south and north sides of the gate (no information on the time and reason for removing the wall structure): its northeast corner and two locations where laterite blocks of the wall base are exposed up to the corner. The survey revealed that the land surface at these points in the Angkor period was about 30 centimeters below the current surface. This means that it was almost flat land without particular height difference from the surface around the East Gate. We did not find any remains such as drainage channels, so we consider that the drainage at that time depended on the natural drainage system including percolation.
The area to the north of the Gate is currently elevated, which prevents water evacuation. We will therefore remove the topsoil in that area and check if the rainwater can be discharged better. We plan to reorganize the surrounding area as well as the restoration of the temple buildings.