1,000 year old lion statue unearthed in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, July 13 (Xinhua) -- A statue of lion with a date back about 1,000 years has been unearthed in Cambodia"s northwestern province, an official said Tuesday.

Kim Sophoan, chief of heritage office of the provincial culture and fine arts department, said that the statue of stone lion, 78 centimeters tall and about 80 kilograms in weight, was unearthed last weekend. It could be dated back in 11th century or about 1, 000 years old.

He said the statue was discovered on Saturday when the construction workers were using a tractor to renovate national road from Battambang province to Pailin province.

Soon after he was informed with the unearth of the lion statue, he said, he went up to see it and took it to a museum in Battambang province.

Kim Sophoan said it was a nice statue with good shape except both legs were broken.

After several decades of civil war, many statues and pieces of cultural heritage were lost, stolen, trafficked or covered under the ground.

For already many years, many heritage pieces have been returned, discovered or repatriated from foreign countries through bilateral cooperation between Cambodia and those countries.

Located in Southeast Asia, Cambodia is known as a country rich in cultural heritage such as Angko Wat Temple, Preah Vihear Temple, both were registered as Word Heritage Sites, and hundreds of more temples across the country as well as arts, culture and tradition.