NASA uses radar to unlock secrets of ancient Cambodian city

A three-dimensional image created using radar images of the Angkor Wat temple area in Cambodia

February 12, 1998
Web posted at: 11:43 p.m. EST (0443 GMT)

PASADENA, California (CNN) -- The mysteries of ancient Angkor are being reclaimed from the dense jungles of Cambodia, thanks to the wonders of modern technology.

Angkor was a huge city, built by ancient Hindus and Buddhists, that at its zenith in the 12th century was home to more than a million people and covered an area the size of Los Angeles. Today, most of the ruins, located in northern Cambodia, are hidden by jungle.

But scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, using three different types of radar images taken from a plane flying over the area, have been able to pinpoint previously unknown sites that are changing the way archaeologists understand Angkor.

Satellite Radar View of Temple Complex
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For instance, in December 1996, a circular mound was found on a radar image. After researchers traveled to it by foot, they found the partially exposed remains of a 10th century building -- making the site more than 200 years older than the best-known temple in the ancient city, Angkor Wat.

The discovery means that Angkor may have been settled much earlier that previously thought, according to Elizabeth Moore, head of the Department of Art and Archaeology at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.

"In this particular case, an existing feature that was highlighted to an incredible degree by the radar has yielded what are, for me, really exciting archaeological implications about the evolution of the city," Moore said.

Following radar hints, Moore also discovered another site about 16 miles away, with a temple the size of a football stadium. It was not clear when it was built. Despite its size, it was not located on any maps.

A part of a group of temple ruins on the mound adjacent to Angkor Wat

The Khmer people who settled the region were sophisticated water managers who created reservoirs, dikes and earthworks, all of which were detected by NASA radar.

John Stubbs, vice president for programs at the World Monuments Fund, a nonprofit organization, called the new findings and the collaboration between the JPL and archaeologists "extremely promising."

"The real story here is a collaboration between archaeologists and rocket scientists who actually know very little about each other's trade, working serendipitously to break new ground," he said.

NASA plans to use a similar radar system on a space shuttle mission in 1999, hoping to map about 80 percent of the Earth's surface in unprecedented detail.

Correspondent Paul Caron contributed to this report.

Related sites:

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• NASA Homepage
  • Press Release - NASA Radar Reveals Hidden Remains at Ancient Angkor
• Prasat Angkor Photo Gallery
• Cambodian Angkor Links

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