[Josh Gates] Right now,
the conclusion to my Expedition Unknown event
into the back country of Cambodia.
A lot that we still don't know,
which is what makes this really exciting.
In a looted and mysterious one-time capital,
the search continues for precious relics
that generations of thieves left behind.
[Phin Phakdey speaking]
-Got something? -[Phin speaking]
[Josh laughs]
[Josh] And I'll come face to face
with dangers lurking in the jungle...
-Ooh, [bleep]! Back up, back up, back up. -[Phin] Scorpion.
[Josh] ...before meeting a former soldier who took part in the heist of the century.
So there may be
priceless statues here underwater?
[Josh on radio]
Our discoveries are bringing us closer to solving a major mystery.
Incredible. First time we're seeing this.
Why did this miraculous city collapse into ruin?
Do you think it's part of a pedestal?
I recognize it.
The one we saw in the museum.
It's an urgent rescue mission far off the grid.
-Yes! -Look at this.
And it all leads to something extraordinary.
[Phin] Oh, I found something!
This isn't just a statue, it is a masterpiece.
My name is Josh Gates.
Hello!
Explorer.
Here goes nothing.
Adventurer.
Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Oh, it's a long way down.
And a guy who ends up in some very strange situations.
I'm alive, for now.
With a degree in archaeology,
and a passion for the unexplained,
I travel to the ends of the Earth
investigating the greatest legends in history.
Ready to rock and roll.
This is Expedition Unknown.
A little more.
I'm almost there.
[men chattering in Cambodian]
[Josh, in English] I'm deep in the jungles of Cambodia
in the ruins of Koh Ker,
a mysterious capital which was built here and collapsed here
for reasons we're still trying to understand.
We've been excavating in front of one of its most substantial temples
and finding huge sandstone blocks.
You can see here the depth of this sculpture.
It's incredibly vivid.
We believe these are pieces of a pediment,
a triangular structure that once sat above the temple's entrance.
-Okay! Hey! -[all clapping]
Nice job, man.
Amazing.
It's beautiful.
Just hours ago all of this was buried.
Now, it stands for the first time in a thousand years,
pieced back together like a stone puzzle.
[Phin] Okay.
[Josh grunts]
-[Josh] A-ha. -Good.
Incredible.
This temple is called Prasat Krachap.
And the team here is being led
by Cambodian archeologist Phin Phakdey.
This gives us a look at what these carvings looked like
-a thousand years ago. -[Phin] A thousand years.
'Cause today, so many of them
-are worn down by rain and the elements. -Mmm, yeah.
-Yeah. -[Josh] But we see here...
-[Phin] It's still safe, yeah. -...it's, you know,
-how alive this is. -[Phin] Yeah.
-Right, it's beautiful. -[Phin] Beautiful.
-So, we have our god here. -Yeah.
-Sitting cross-legged. -Sitting, yeah.
[Josh] And holding what?
-A lasso. Like a rope. -[Phin] Yeah.
Yeah.
[Josh] This is the figure
of a Hindu god.
And its presence reveals
the religious devotion
of the enigmatic Khmer king
who ordered this city's construction.
The Khmer Empire ruled over most of Southeast Asia for 600 years,
making it one of history's largest and most powerful civilizations.
But in the 10th century, the king Jayavarman IV
uprooted the capital from its established base in Angkor
and moved it 80 miles away
to this remote jungle location,
building a massive city of palaces and temples called Koh Ker.
Yet, only 20 years later,
under the rule of Jayavarman's son, Harshavarman,
the city mysteriously collapsed,
and its secrets are only now being revealed.
And so who is this?
[Phin speaking]
-Varuna? -[Phin] Yeah.
So this is the god of the west.
Uh, yeah.
This is here because this entrance
-faces to the west. -Yeah.
[Josh] In addition to being the god of the west,
Varuna was also the god of water.
In Koh Ker, a city without a substantial water source,
Varuna was likely the god
whose favor King Jayavarman and his son wanted most.
What will happen to this piece?
So you think eventually this will end up
-back where it started. -Yeah.
-That's perfect.
That's exactly where it should go.
So another piece, or I guess,
-another three or four pieces... -Okay.
-...of this huge puzzle. -Yeah.
This is incredible.
We are right now, and anyone watching this,
the first people to see this in who knows how long.
So what a gift to be able to see this.
Yeah.
[laughs]
Somebody take a picture, please.
We don't celebrate for long.
There's much more to do.
Along with the pediment,
we've already unearthed
incredibly rare ancient inscriptions,
and a fragment of a lion statue
that once guarded this temple.
But there are other things underground here,
things that are potentially lethal.
-Ooh, [bleep]! Back up, back up, back up! -[Phin] Scorpion. Yeah.
-[Phin] Wow. -You okay?
This appears to be an Asian forest scorpion,
one of the more aggressive species that haunts my nightmares.
We don't want to take any chances with its venom,
so we need to move it.
But to do that,
I'll need to carefully grab
the very thing he'll try to sting me with.
In the ground. Look at him.
[exhales]
My least favorite animal in the world.
Why? Who... Who designed this?
Who made this armored, crazy cockroach with lobster claws
and a poison tail that swings over its head?
We don't need this.
What do you do with it?
All right, just...
That's not... Let's not be ridiculous.
-Where should we put him? Outside the site? -Yeah.
Okay. I'll be, uh, I'll be right back
I rehome the scorpion a good distance away
and get back to work,
hoping to find remains of the statues
for which Koh Ker is famous.
The artists of Koh Ker produced the greatest sculptures
in the history of their empire.
But in the 20th century,
many of these culturally priceless statues
were systematically looted by gangs of desperate former soldiers,
and sold to museums and collectors on the black market.
I first came to Cambodia to meet Brad Gordon,
an American lawyer committed to locating this stolen art,
which includes this masterpiece
of the Hindu gods Skanda and Shiva.
It was looted from this very temple,
and once offered for sale for $25 million.
Thanks to Brad and his team,
it has recently been returned to Cambodia's National Museum.
And it seems that there's more here to find.
What do we have?
[Phin speaking]
Oh, here. You think this is the face?
[Phin speaking]
Okay. That's the mouth?
-Yeah. -That's the mouth.
[Phin speaking]
[Josh] Ah, yes, yes, yes.
There are the teeth. I see.
So this is probably
guarding the entrance to the temple.
[Phin] Yeah.
[Josh] If the lion fragment we dug up earlier was impressive,
this nearly-intact lion statue is breathtaking.
And for the team here, another first.
[Josh] Never found this before.
-Yeah. -[Josh] Uh-huh.
-The heads were cut off. -Yeah.
-[Phin] Don't know. -[Josh] Incredible.
-Yeah. -First time we're seeing this.
Yeah.
[Josh] The looters who raided this temple
left statues behind in their haste.
This lion was clearly one of them.
The rest of the crew eagerly joins in to fully reveal it.
The statue weighs hundreds of pounds,
so we have to add an industrial strap to hoist it out of the ground.
[Phin] Come to my side.
[Josh] Okay, ready? Here we go.
Up!
[speaking Cambodian]
[speaking English]
[Josh] Once it's out of the ground,
steel bars can be threaded through the straps
for transport.
-Yeah. -The plan is we're gonna just deadlift this.
-Yeah, just like it. -That's the... Okay.
-One, two, three. -[all grunting]
[Josh] This is horrible!
[grunts]
-All right! -[Phin] Now, you're turning!
Slow down now.
[speaking Cambodian]
[Phin, in English] Slowly.
Put it there right on the stumps.
On the ground.
-Yeah. -Okay.
Let's not do that again.
We set the statue down and get our first look at this guardian beast.
First of all, how beautiful is this?
-[Phin speaking] -[Josh] Stunning.
[Josh] Yeah?
-That's right. They've been missing... -Yeah.
-...for centuries. -Yes.
-And now, it's incredible. -[Phin speaking]
Awesome.
Incredible.
The lions, the inscriptions, the pediment,
all reminders of just how ornate and holy this city once was,
which only deepens our central mystery,
how did a place this sacred
crumble in only two generations?
The answer may be in finding more of what was left behind.
While the team continues their work here,
I travel through the ruins
to another of the capital's massive temple complexes,
this one called Prasat Tam,
to reconnect with lawyer Brad Gordon.
Brad has major news to report
on one of Koh Ker's most looted sites.
Wow!
Josh, welcome to Prasat Tam,
the heart of the city of Koh Ker.
[Josh] This is stunning.
I mean, the scale of it is unbelievable.
This is another world.
[Brad] Yeah, it's amazing.
And I'm not sure I should be standing here.
[Brad] Yeah, I would be a bit careful.
[Josh] Here, it is disassembling,
and look how the jungle is reclaiming
this beautiful brick temple.
This is outrageous.
Brad has brought me to this complex
to introduce me to a crucial witness,
who he's recruited to help his cause,
a former looter who was a member
of Cambodia's most prolific smuggling ring.
And the guy we're here to meet?
He's just around the corner.
[Josh] It has taken Brad years to gain the confidence
of the man codenamed "Blue Tiger."
And he has only agreed to meet us
if we grant him anonymity
and blur his face.
Will this clandestine meeting be a dead end,
or will Blue Tiger be the key to finding Koh Ker's treasures?
[Brad] Josh, this is Blue Tiger.
[Josh] Very nice to meet you. Thank you for talking with us.
In the ruins of the ancient Cambodian capital known as Koh Ker,
I'm meeting a former looter
who once made his living
stealing precious works of art from temples like these.
Blue Tiger was born not so far away from Koh Ker.
When he was a teenager,
he was a Khmer Rouge child soldier.
[Josh] Among their more heinous sins,
the communist regime of the Khmer Rouge
denied education to impoverished children
and forced them to serve as soldiers.
After the fall of the regime,
many turned to looting in organized gangs.
It is estimated that they stole hundreds,
or even thousands of sculptures from Koh Ker.
Can you remember when you first came to this temple?
[Blue Tiger] I came here with my grandfather
when I was six or seven years old in 1963 or 1964.
And when you were first here,
what do you remember about this place?
What was here?
[Blue Tiger] There were several statues on the pedestals
along the walls of this room.
There was a large god crouched here.
[Josh] A sketch done in the late 19th century by a French explorer
backs up Blue Tiger's account.
Of the statues he depicted,
only one has been located in a collection in Thailand.
The rest have been scattered
to the four corners of the globe.
And other statues at the site were taken as well, yes?
[Blue Tiger] Yes, we did take other statues from the rest of the site.
Can you show us?
Blue Tiger leads us outside to a colonnade of ancient fallen stone.
The complex is surrounded by a silent moat,
one of the few remaining features of a water-management system
that once supplied this landlocked city with fresh water.
What... What was here?
[Blue Tiger speaking Cambodian]
[in English] In this temple behind us, there was a huge statue.
Fifteen feet tall.
Five heads, and 18 arms.
And it was known as the "Dancing Shiva."
A huge statue.
And so what... What became of this?
A number of years ago in the 1990s,
a group of looters came and they blew it up.
They blew it up, like exploded it? Why?
[Blue Tiger, in English] There was a legend that the Dancing Shiva
was filled with treasure.
They thought there was gold underneath,
there were gems in the head,
there was treasure inside.
So they blew it up.
We think many of the pieces may still be in the moat.
In the moat.
Oh, it actually exploded out into the water?
-[Brad] Yes. -Wow.
Only about 30%
of the seven-ton Dancing Shiva statue has been recovered,
and is now being painstakingly reassembled
piece by tiny piece in a conservation lab.
And that's not the only thing in the water.
What else went into the water?
[Blue Tiger] The Khmer Rouge toppled statues into the moat to hide them
with the plan to smuggle them later.
[Josh] The moat was once lined with dozens of statues,
the pedestals to which still stand right behind us.
There was also a carved railing in the form of a serpent deity
known as a Naga that has been largely destroyed.
So there may be priceless statues here underwater?
[Blue Tiger] That's where they were tipped.
They should still be hidden there.
Okay.
So how do we recover those?
-That's the challenge. -[Josh] Okay.
Blue Tiger has given us a new place to look
for priceless statues that could tell us more
about the fate of King Jayavarman's capital city.
And to search the murky depths,
Brad has called in the best.
-Dave Phillips. -Josh Gates.
-[Josh] How are you, man? -Great to see you.
-We've gotta stop meeting like this. -Oh.
-[Josh] What's up? -[Dave] Hey.
[Josh] From frigid Northern Minnesota.
To sweltering Northern Cambodia.
[Josh] Dave Phillips and I are old friends
from my search for a stolen pair of ruby slippers.
Now he's brought his talents and tools to Cambodia.
So we've got a legit-looking ROV here.
[Dave] It is. Remotely operated vehicle.
This one has a very high resolution camera
as well as a multibeam sonar.
[Josh] Which is probably pretty important in this visibility.
Yeah, it's worth far more than the video.
[Josh] The sonar allows the operator to virtually see
in low visibility environments,
and this VideoRay Defender ROV
also has seven independent thrusters
to carefully maneuver.
Okay, so, depth here in the moat we think is what?
Anywhere from maybe five feet to 15 feet.
This is a true unknown.
Nobody knows what's in this moat.
Yeah, nobody has ever used this kind of technology here.
This is the first time today.
-[Josh] Should we look underwater? -Let's go.
-[Josh] Let's do it. Come on. -All right.
Okay, it's going in.
Okay, we're clear.
Okay.
-Going down. -Here we go.
Passing three feet.
And...
[Dave] We're on the bottom.
[Josh] Okay, that's six feet.
And let's push forward and see what's there.
The items we're looking for, carved sandstone sculptures,
have no business in a water reservoir,
so we should know them when we see them.
Something's sort of squared off ahead of us there. You see that?
[Dave] Yeah. Let's check it out.
-[Josh] Ooh, there it is. -[Dave] Yup. Right there.
-Look at that. -Yeah.
That's submerged stone, for sure.
No question, right?
-No question. -[Josh] Yep.
Okay, so we've got some scattered blocks down there. That's a good start.
Question is whether there's any of this sandstone,
any of this sculpture mixed in with that.
The problem is even with the sonar that can guide us to these objects,
when you get on top of them, it's just so murky.
It's so hard to see what's really there.
-Well, I know another way. -No.
-[Dave] Yes. Yep. Yup. Yes. -Dave. [shushing]
You're doing so good right now, don't...
Don't go ruin this.
-[Dave] Yeah. -We got some great 21st century tech here,
that's really all we need.
You know, I know just the man for the job.
Yep, I do, too. Attorney Brad Gordon.
Underwater lawyer.
Brad, you ready to...
-I can't even swim. -He can't even swim!
[all laughing]
[Josh] Looks like I'm going in there after all.
So I gear up to dive.
While the water may look calm,
to me that just means it's hiding something.
Good luck, Josh.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Be safe.
[Josh speaking on radio]
How's it looking, Josh?
[Josh speaking]
[Dave on radio] Hey, Josh, be really careful.
Um, there's supposed to be like water snakes around.
[Josh speaking]
There have been recent sightings of blue crate snakes in the water.
If one of them is in here with me today
and decides to take a bite,
I have about a seven in ten chance of dying before I get to a hospital.
So let's find a statue fast
and then get the hell out of here.
[Josh speaking on radio]
Are you seeing any inscriptions or carvings?
[Josh speaking]
[Dave on radio] All right. That sounds fantastic.
Dave, can he bring it to the surface?
Hey, Josh, can you bring that item up?
[Josh speaking]
[Brad] Josh, what is it?
Looks like sandstone.
[Josh] Well, could that be from a statue?
Maybe a statue along the moat
or maybe even the Dancing Shiva.
-We'll have to check. -That could be a piece?
[Brad] Yes.
Okay. Amazing. I'm gonna keep looking.
-Okay. Keep going. -[Josh] Awesome.
[Josh speaking on radio]
Well, that is really cool.
[Josh speaking]
Okay, great.
Wow, look at that design.
[Josh speaking]
[Brad] Yeah, it's curved. It looks like snake skin.
[Josh] I'm in the Cambodian ruins of Koh Ker
searching for the remnants of looted statues
that once adorned this ancient capital.
Now, in the moat of this holy temple complex,
it looks like we found something remarkable.
[Brad] It's got markings on it.
We'll have to bring it to the team and see where it came from.
Maybe one of these statues along here.
[Josh] But that's for sure, that's worked sandstone.
-That's from something. -[Brad] Yeah.
This is from something that was carved 1,000 years ago.
-How about that? -[Brad] Yeah.
-Incredible. -Insane.
The pattern on the second fragment I found
suggests that it may be part of the carved Naga serpent
that once encircled the moat.
Most importantly, we have confirmed
that there are fragments of sculpture in the water here
and have given the team a whole new region in which to search.
As for me, right now, I have one priority.
-Can I get out of this water now? -Yeah. Come on up.
-[Josh] You sure? -Yeah.
Dave, can I get out?
No. Stay in.
He's the worst. He's the worst.
Does anybody have any hand sanitizer?
[sighs] Okay.
Koh Ker continues to be a magnificent puzzle
with pieces we're recovering one at a time,
but the biggest question of all remains.
What happened to it?
How did Jayavarman's city of dreams fall
only a few years after his son Harshavarman took control?
The answer might be found with the king who took power after them
and who moved the capital back to Angkor.
Early the next morning,
I travel south to the one-time home
of a million ancient Khmer people,
to the city which Jayavarman spurned to build Koh Ker,
and to where the capital would return soon after,
eventually blossoming into this.
If you don't know it by name,
odds are you know it when you see it.
Angkor Wat.
Built in the 12th century,
it is humankind's most impressive achievements.
It is the largest temple complex on the planet,
and, along with King Kong,
it is rightly billed as the Eighth Wonder of the world.
It is a maze of beauty set in stone.
Concentric plazas, and shadowy corridors
bordered by massive towers in the shape of lotus flowers.
Everything you see here was created 200 years
after the mysterious fall of Koh Ker.
So why did Jayavarman IV's dream city collapse?
Well, the answer might be right around the corner.
Nearby is the enigmatic pyramid of Baksei Chamkrong
where I'm meeting Cambodia's deputy director of antiquities,
Meas Sopheap.
[both speaking Cambodian]
[in English] How are you?
I'm good and how about you?
-I'm great. How could I not be? Look at this. -[Sopheap laughs]
-[Josh] This is amazing. -[Sopheap] Amazing.
[Josh] It's like something out of a movie.
-Isn't it? -[Sopheap] It is, it is. Yeah.
[Sopheap speaking]
-Right. After Jayavarman IV and his son Harshavarman II... -Yeah.
...this guy comes along. He's the next king.
And he moves the capital back here to Angkor?
[Josh] So the big question then is
how does he do that? How does he pull that off?
-At the top? I was afraid you were going to say that. -[Sopheap laughs]
-Are we going up? -Yes.
-All right, let's do it. Come on. -[Sopheap] Yes.
[Josh] We clamber up what's left of the stairs
which have crumbled to a nearly sheer face.
Just don't look down.
Don't look down.
Oh, yeah, this is sketchy.
Almost there.
Whew!
-Yes! -Look at this.
-[Sopheap] We did it. -[Josh] On top of the world.
[Sopheap] Yes.
[Josh] Okay, so, what do we have here?
[Josh] Look at this.
It's such a pretty script.
Very beautiful.
That's right.
So what do we have in these inscriptions?
In this inscription...
So this royal list showing all the kings that came before him.
[Sopheap] All the kings. Yes.
And so we find inscriptions like this
-at many of the temples in Angkor, yes? -Yeah. Many, many.
And do the inscriptions tell us
how he seized power from Koh Ker?
Not exactly, but it gives some clues.
Clues? What kind of clues?
[Josh] Sopheap shows me translations of Khmer inscriptions
that describe Rajendravarman
as having a body as hard as a diamond
and a sword stained with blood.
It's a vivid portrait of a leader who appears
to have used violence more than diplomacy.
It seems that King Jayavarman puts his cousin Rajendravarman in charge of the army,
then when Jayavarman's son inherits the throne,
perhaps Rajendravarman decides
he's better qualified to rule.
-We've seen it a million times in history. -Yes.
-Maybe this is the classic coup. -Yeah.
Right, the military general, he has the support of the army,
-and he says, "You know what? I want to be king." -[Sopheap] Yes.
The question then becomes how does he pull it off?
Right, even if he has the support of the army,
how does he get it?
You know, by all accounts, Koh Ker is a pretty powerful kingdom.
Yes.
-[Josh] Right. -[Sopheap] But...
Right, maybe his father was the real powerhouse
who built this empire out there,
-and the son couldn't maintain it. -[Sopheap] Yeah.
Right.
Something went wrong at the city, something made it weak,
and so he seized that opportunity.
-[Sopheap] Yes. -But we don't know what that could be.
-Okay. So we still have a mystery here. -[Sopheap] Yes.
[Josh] It now seems likely that the capital of Koh Ker
was conquered by Rajendravarman II,
but we still need to unlock how such a powerful city
was left so vulnerable.
I get back on the bike and return to Koh Ker
to meet an expert
who believes she and her team may have found the answer.
-Hello. -[Sarah] Hey, Josh.
[Josh] How are you?
-I'm guessing you're Sarah. -I'm Sarah, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you as well.
-[Sarah] So you made it. -I made it.
All right. So tell me how you fit into this puzzle out here,
this excavation, what do you do?
Yeah. I'm an archeologist.
I specialize in remote sensing.
[Josh] And remote sensing is psychic viewing, right? That's where you...
-[laughs] Not quite, not quite. -No, it's not. No.
Remote sensing is like things like ground penetrating radar,
-lidar technology... -Yeah, yeah.
-...laser scanning, right? Things like that. -Yeah.
-All the fun goodies. -Exactly.
[Josh] Lidar uses laser pulses fired from above
to see beneath canopies of vegetation,
allowing us to find long-hidden structures.
And has this sort of technology been used out here in the past?
No, this site's been pretty much off limits until very recently.
All the research that we're doing is really cutting edge.
It's new and exciting.
We're kind of starting from scratch in many ways.
Can remote sensing, can things like lidar,
help explain the collapse of this place?
-Do you want to take a look? -Yeah, can you show me?
-Absolutely. Let's go. -All right. On foot?
-No, we got to take the bikes. -[whispers] Yes!
Let's do it.
To see if Sarah's lidar scan has struck archeological pay dirt,
we ride through the back roads of Koh Ker,
marveling at its seemingly endless collection of ruins.
The place is incredible. There's just stuff everywhere.
Sarah leads me through the city to a wide open area
that today looks like swamp land,
but scans show otherwise.
In Koh Ker's prime, this was the Rohal,
the largest manmade reservoir in the Khmer empire.
This mile-long expanse
was responsible for Koh Ker's very existence.
Without fresh water,
Jayavarman's dream city simply couldn't survive.
So where did all that water come from?
Okay, where are we headed?
Just up the road. We're almost there.
[Josh] Here?
[Sarah] Yeah, right over here.
What do we have here?
This is a dam.
-[Josh] This is a dam? -[Sarah] A dam.
Oh, yeah, these blocks here.
-Wow. -That's right.
This is the spillway
of a dam that stretches to the north.
[Josh] Today it looks like an overgrown wall in the jungle,
but Sarah's lidar sees more.
A massive four mile-long dam
that stretched from Koh Ker to a river in the jungle.
The dam blocked the river
and channeled it into reservoirs
that supplied the city with life-giving water.
So 1,000 years ago, if you were arriving here,
you would've looked out and seen this?
Exactly.
So the entry to Koh Ker was through this road.
So you'd be walking along this road.
To your right would have been the largest
manmade body of water they've ever seen,
-and then straight ahead... -[Josh] Right.
[Sarah] ...is the pyramid of Koh Ker.
Incredible. It must have been breathtaking.
[Sarah] It would have been a beautiful view.
[Josh] It is an engineering feat
of empire-making proportions.
But in this spot, the stone blocks seem to end,
as though there's a gap in the dam's retaining wall.
[Sarah] So where we're standing,
we're at the side of a large, stone spillway,
which would have stretched all the way over there.
[Josh] So excess water would come over that spillway.
[Sarah] Exactly, yeah.
Am I missing something, though?
I don't see a huge stone structure here. Like, where is it?
Well, that's where the lidar data becomes interesting.
As you can see, it's just, it's gone.
[Josh] The reason may finally explain the fall of Koh Ker.
An epic disaster that brought down a capital.
We're talking about a dam failure?
Dam failure, yep.
[Josh] Wow!
We know there was some kind of huge event that happened here
that completely blasted out this spillway.
[Josh] Archeologist Sarah Klassen
has brought me to an ancient dam,
to explain how the city of Koh Ker
went from a glittering capital
to ruins.
We're talking about a dam failure?
Dam failure, yep.
[Sarah] So at some point,
this spillway just completely failed.
Blasted open.
We've actually found spillway blocks,
like, huge laterite spillway blocks,
hundreds of feet downstream from here.
-Just, like, out in the jungle? -[Sarah] Yeah.
That were carried down when the spillway failed.
So what would the immediate effect have been of the failure?
Catastrophic.
It's not only a source of water for drinking.
It's used for agriculture, for fish, for protein.
There are a lot reasons why you need to have a large source of water.
Right, it's food and drink.
-It's life, right? -[Sarah] Exactly.
And this is a remote city out here in the jungle
trying to support how many people?
Tens of thousands of people, we think.
Right. And if you lose, in an instant,
your ability to feed people, to give people water,
-it's over. Right? -Exactly.
[Josh] We learned back at Angkor
that Koh Ker may have been weakened somehow,
leaving it vulnerable to assault.
And we've seen that this next king,
Rajendravarman, he comes in.
He seems to come out of nowhere,
and take control, and move the capital back to Angkor.
It's possible that he seized on this moment of weakness,
and came in, and took the throne back.
Look at that.
Twenty-first century technology,
thousand-year-old mystery.
-Here we go. -Incredible.
[Josh] Thanks to Sarah's work,
and the power of cutting-edge technology,
one mystery about Koh Ker may be solved.
But we're also here to investigate a crime.
The wholesale theft of the city's statues.
Brad Gordon and the Cambodian archeological team
are back at the Prasat Krachap temple complex,
to excavate where gangs of looters stole priceless art,
and to discover if any treasures were left behind.
[Josh] Phakdey!
[Josh] Hello again!
How you doing?
-[Josh] Back in another pit? -Yeah.
And where are we now?
[Josh] We've gone deeper inside the temple
from where we found the pediment earlier.
Former looters have told Brad that this is the location
where they stole dozens of statues.
Among them is the magnificent Skanda and Shiva,
now in the National Museum.
That masterpiece, the crown jewel of Koh Ker,
was taken from some place very close by.
So where are you digging?
[chuckles] Let's go.
[Josh] We scrape into the hard earth,
working through dense tree roots
that have grown over and through the buildings here.
Archeologist Thach Phanith is the first to hit paydirt.
-[Josh] Got something? Sandstone? -[Phanith] Yeah.
-[Josh] Statue? -[Phanith speaking]
-A foot from a statue? -[Phanith] Yeah.
[Josh] Look at that, it is. It's small.
[Phanith speaking]
-It's a foot? -Yeah!
-You're sure? -Yeah!
-[Josh] That's a foot from a statue? -[Phanith] Yeah!
[laughs] This is unbelievable.
Okay, let's see if we can reveal a bit more of it.
[Josh] We carefully brush away more dirt from the foot
to get a better look.
[Josh] Very small.
When I see this foot, it reminds me of a story
we heard from the former looters.
Uh, that they took out
a father and son statue from here,
and the father maybe is Jayavarman IV,
and the son could be Harshavarman II.
That statue's never been recovered.
[Josh] While the foot of a missing statue
might not seem important,
to Brad, this is forensic gold.
If the stolen statue surfaces in a museum or private collection,
the foot will interlock,
providing critical evidence
to repatriate the statue to Cambodia.
[Josh] You have a pin?
-From a statue? -Yeah.
[Josh] Phanith brings over a block
that they found nearby, known as a pin.
[Josh] So these pins basically go into the ground
to stabilize the pedestal?
-Yeah. Yeah. -[Josh] Under the statue.
Could this be with this?
[Josh] If they were paired at antiquity,
the statue and pin should slot together
like an ancient Lego.
[Josh] And the other side?
[Josh] Phanith gently adjusts the foot
to see if it's a match.
-[Phanith] Ooh, that! -[Josh] That fits?
[Phin] Yeah.
-That locks in there? -[Phanith] Yeah.
-[Josh] This goes together? -Yeah!
-And we see...[laughs] -[Phanith speaking]
[Josh] This is unbelievable!
And we can see here,
there would have been another foot here.
That's really amazing.
[Josh] We rush to check our immediate vicinity for more fragments.
-[Josh] Another piece? -Yeah.
[Josh] More sandstone?
[Phanith speaking]
[Josh] We hurry the new piece over to the pin,
to see if it's part of the same statue.
[Phanith] Maybe it should be.
Yeah? That, maybe...
[Josh] Does it go, or is it from another statue?
-[Phanith] There! -[Josh] Huh?
That fit!
-[all exclaiming] -Right there!
That's it!
-We found two! -That fits!
[Josh] Unbelievable! That's awesome.
-[Phanith speaking] -Come on!
Look at that!
[Josh] This is incredible.
Both pieces lock into the pin seamlessly.
We're now rebuilding a destroyed masterwork
from the feet up.
We see so many statues in museums
missing their feet, missing their arms.
It's not until you see the other part
that you realize
the violence that's been done here, right?
That this was this beautiful thing
that has literally been hacked off at the ankles.
You know, the public, when they go to museums,
they should think about this.
-[Josh] Totally. -[Brad] They should think about this image.
Yeah, that those beautiful statues we see,
-they belong right here. -[Brad] Yes.
[Josh] Brad suspects that somewhere,
in a museum or private collection,
is a broken statue,
whose feet we have just recovered.
And now, for some archeological police work.
Scanning the find with an Artec Leo.
This device takes millions of laser-accurate measurements
and stitches them together,
to form a three-dimensional image.
Think of it as a virtual fingerprint,
or in this case, footprint,
that can one day match to a priceless work
and bring it home to Cambodia.
Once the scan is finished,
we get back to digging.
Oh!
[Josh] Found something? Oh, sandstone!
[Josh] It's got a little lip.
Yeah.
You think it's part of a pedestal?
-[Phin] Yeah. -[Josh] Because it's so fine?
[Phin speaking]
There's no other pieces to it, though, which is frustrating.
[Brad] Josh, you might think I'm crazy,
but I would bet you that's Skanda and Shiva's pedestal.
The one we saw in the museum?
[Josh] Okay, hold the phone.
Brad thinks this was part of the Skanda and Shiva.
The stolen statue that was put on the black market
for $25 million by art dealer Douglas Latchford,
before it was recovered
and brought to the National Museum.
Unquestionably, the greatest piece of art
ever found from Koh Ker.
The pedestal is very smooth, and has no flower design.
Looks just like that.
It's also in the perfect location
in terms of what we heard from the looters about bringing,
uh, Skanda and Shiva out of the chamber.
Right, that statue was found here.
[Brad] Right behind you.
[Josh] Right.
-[Brad] Wow. -Yeah.
I've been looking at photos for years of that statue.
I recognize it.
You think that's from that statue?
That's Skanda and Shiva.
[Josh] Casual roadside dining in Cambodia
is not for the faint of heart.
Or stomach.
Oh, boy. Spiders!
I noticed you haven't... you haven't sold many.
Pretty much anything that crawls here is edible.
And all of it is deep-fried, and for sale, right here.
You've got your frogs,
cockroaches,
and of course, tarantulas.
Oh, boy. Yeah, look at that.
That's a big tarantula right there.
What was once a matter of survival is now a delicacy.
Though you are supposed to enjoy these
with an ice-cold beer or a rice wine,
and since I'm driving the bike,
I can't really drink and drive.
-So, it's-- -[crew member] Quit stalling!
I'm not stalling!
[sighs] Here we go.
They're pretty good.
-[crew member] Eat the abdomen! -Everybody's fired.
That's tougher.
Not the worst spider I've had.
All right. Time to hit the road. Let's go.
[Josh] Okay.
-So this would be like this? This is the pedestal? -[Brad] Yes.
[Brad] Digging in Cambodia's city of Koh Ker,
we may have just made a historic discovery.
A possible fragment of the iconic
Skanda and Shiva statue,
which was stolen from this temple,
smuggled out of the country,
and held for $25 million on the black market.
If this is part of that sculpture,
it would be the largest missing piece of it.
-The rest of it is almost entirely there. -Yes, yes.
-[Josh] Okay. -Back to Phnom Penh.
Back to Phnom Penh.
[Josh] If there's even a chance that we have a piece
of the Skanda and Shiva,
there's no time to waste.
So we rush back to the National Museum in Phnom Penh
to assess the find.
Okay. Moment of truth.
[Josh] The Skanda and Shiva waits in the restoration lab with Chea Socheat,
the head of conservation at the museum.
Now, it's time to see if our fragment
was once part of this iconic statue.
[Josh] We have brought you a present.
Ah.
Which we hope is a part of this.
[Chea] Okay. Yes, I will try.
[Josh] So, let's see what we've got.
So this banding does look almost exactly like this.
[Josh] We attempt to match the piece
to some damaged stone in the front of the pedestal.
Or here?
-[Josh] No? -[Chea] No.
I want to try another part.
-[Josh] In the back? -Yes.
Right. Oh, okay. This is more damaged here.
-[Brad] So Josh, look at this. -[Chea] Yeah.
-This band here is identical. -[Josh] Right.
-[Chea] This... -[Josh] It is, it's almost the same depth
-from the top of the pedestal, right? -[Chea] Yes.
-Corner maybe? -[Chea] No, because...
-[Josh] Oh, it's too wide here... -[Chea] Yes.
[Josh] Let's see if we move down the line, if it fits in.
-[Josh] No? -[Chea] No.
No...
[soft thump]
-[Josh] Ha! It fits! -[Brad] Wow! Look at that!
-[Brad] Perfect match. -[Chea] Yes, great.
Just interlocked into place! Did you hear that?
-That's exactly where it fits! Look at that! -[Chea] Yes.
[Josh] It is absolutely perfect.
You can see...
exactly where it chipped off, right here.
-That is insane. -[Brad] No gap.
-[Brad] Perfect. -A perfect fit!
-[Brad] Congratulations. -Congratulations! Congratulations!
[Josh] Just being in the presence of this statue again,
I'm reminded what a spectacular piece of art this is.
It's like we found a corner of a Picasso painting,
and walked into one of the greatest museums in the world,
-and fitted it perfectly. -[Josh] Right.
That's the thing I keep thinking,
is that this isn't just a statue.
It is a masterpiece.
Yeah, absolutely.
[Josh] This will be reattached?
Yes, absolutely.
And this will eventually go on display to the public?
[Brad] Yes, this will go on display.
I look forward to coming back and seeing it in the museum.
-Thank you, Josh. -Thank you, Brad. All the best.
[speaking Cambodian]
[Josh, in English] This is an incredible win.
One which brings this statue closer to full restoration.
And while we celebrate, we get more good news.
The inscription we unearthed
in Prasat Krachap's entry has been translated.
It turns out to be a list of 17 people.
A list that helps us better understand
the population of Koh Ker 1,000 years ago.
For Cambodians, both then and now,
the Koh Ker statues possess spirits,
and we've just helped to heal the Skanda and Shiva.
To honor the mending of this national treasure,
a group of Buddhist monks
has invited me and the museum team
to participate in a ceremony of thanks and prayer.
[Josh] Koh Ker has been in ruins for centuries,
but despite the ravages of both time and crime,
it feels to me that at its heart,
this place is very much alive.
The remarkable finds here prove that the city was born
from the boundless ambition of a king
who needed to make his own mark.
And what a mark it was.
He inspired massive monuments,
and created a center of great art and beauty.
High-tech scans have revealed that the fall of his capital
may well have been the result of a one-two punch.
The catastrophic failure of a dam
which robbed the city of water,
coupled with clues carved in stone
that an ambitious relative
seized his moment to take control.
Today, proud Cambodians are rediscovering
this ancient heritage one block at a time.
And former thieves are guiding us to new places to look,
below both water and soil.
And a tireless advocate seeks justice
by bringing looted artefacts back to where they belong.
In fact, not long after our dig
came a major announcement.
Brad and his team have negotiated the return
of art dealer Douglas Latchford's
entire collection of Cambodian art.
A brilliant victory
in the fight to restore Koh Ker to glory,
and to inspire all those who make the effort
to reach this once-forgotten capital.