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Right now, the conclusion to my expedition unknown event

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into the back country of Cambodia.

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A lot that we still don't know,

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which is what makes this really exciting.

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In a looted and mysterious one-time capital,

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the search continues for precious relics

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that generations of thieves left behind.

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Oh, we have something here.

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You have something?

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Maybe the statue.

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And I'll come face to face with dangers lurking in the jungle.

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Oh, f***, let's go. Back up, back up, back up.

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Before meeting a former soldier

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who took part in the heist of the century.

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So there may be priceless statues here underwater?

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Our discoveries are bringing us closer

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to solving a major mystery.

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Incredible.

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First time we're seeing this.

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Why did this miraculous city collapse into ruin?

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You think it's part of a pedestal?

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I recognize it.

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The one we saw in the museum.

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It's an urgent rescue mission far off the grid.

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Yes.

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Look at this.

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And it all leads to something extraordinary.

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Oh, I found something.

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This isn't just a statue. It is a masterpiece.

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My name is Josh Gates.

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Hello.

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Explorer.

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Here goes nothing.

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Adventurer.

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Oh, that's a long way down.

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And a guy who ends up in some very strange situations.

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I'm alive for now.

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With a degree in archaeology and a passion for the unexplained.

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I travel to the ends of the earth,

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investigating the greatest legends in history.

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Rock and roll.

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This is Expedition Unknown.

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A little more.

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Almost there.

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I'm deep in the jungles of Cambodia in the ruins of Ga'kei,

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a mysterious capital which was built here and collapsed here

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for reasons we're still trying to understand.

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We've been excavating in front of one of its most substantial temples

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and finding huge sandstone blocks.

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You can see here the depth of the sculpture.

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It's incredibly vivid.

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We believe these are pieces of a pediment,

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a triangular structure that once sat above the temple's entrance.

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Okay. Hey.

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Nice job, man.

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Amazing.

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Beautiful.

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Just hours ago, all of this was buried.

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Now, it stands for the first time in a thousand years,

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pieced back together like a stone puzzle.

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Okay.

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Ha ha!

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I'm good.

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Incredible.

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This temple is called Prasat Krichap,

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and the team here is being led by Cambodian archaeologist Pin Pakode.

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This gives us a look at what these carvings looked like a thousand years ago,

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because today so many of them are worn down by rain and the elements,

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but we see here, you know, how alive this is.

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Right? It's beautiful.

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Beautiful.

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So we have our god here sitting cross-legged and holding what?

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Holding a lasso.

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A lasso? Like a rope?

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Yeah.

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This is the figure of a Hindu god,

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and its presence reveals the religious devotion of the enigmatic Khmer king

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who ordered this city's construction.

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The Khmer Empire ruled over most of Southeast Asia for 600 years,

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making it one of history's largest and most powerful civilizations.

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But in the 10th century, the king Jayaavarman IV uprooted the capital

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from its established base in Angkor

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and moved it 80 miles away to this remote jungle location,

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building a massive city of palaces and temples called Gake.

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Yet only 20 years later, under the rule of Jayaavarman's son, Harshavarman,

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the city mysteriously collapsed,

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and its secrets are only now being revealed.

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And so who is this?

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Varuna.

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Varuna.

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So this is the god of the west.

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This is here because this entrance faces to the west.

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In addition to being the god of the west, Varuna was also the god of water.

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In Gake, a city without a substantial water source,

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Varuna was likely the god whose favor King Jayaavarman and his son wanted most.

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What will happen to this piece?

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After we restore, we pick it up to the original position.

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So you think eventually this will end up back where it started?

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That's perfect.

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That's exactly where it should go.

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So another piece, or I guess another three or four pieces of this huge puzzle.

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This is incredible.

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We are right now and anyone watching this, the first people to see this,

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and who knows how long.

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So what a gift to be able to see this.

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Yeah.

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Somebody take a picture, please.

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We don't celebrate for long.

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There's much more to do.

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Along with the pediment, we've already unearthed incredibly rare ancient inscriptions

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and a fragment of a lion statue that once guarded this temple.

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But there are other things underground here, things that are potentially lethal.

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Oh, back up, back up, back up.

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Wow.

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Okay.

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This appears to be an Asian forest scorpion, one of the more aggressive species that haunts my nightmares.

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We don't want to take any chances with its venom, so we need to move it.

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But to do that, I'll need to carefully grab the very thing he'll try to sting me with.

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In the ground, look at him.

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My least favorite animal in the world.

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Why?

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Who designed this?

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Who made this?

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Armored, crazy, cockroach with lobster claws and a poison tail that swings over its head.

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We don't need this.

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What do you do with it?

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Eat it.

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All right, just, that's not, that's not very ridiculous.

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Where should we put them outside the site?

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Yeah.

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Okay, I'll be, I'll be right back.

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I re-home the scorpion a good distance away and get back to work, hoping to find remains of the statues for which Ga'kei is famous.

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The artists of Ga'kei produced the greatest sculptures in the history of their empire.

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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.

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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.

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It was looted from this very temple and once offered for sale for $25 million.

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Thanks to Brad and his team, it has recently been returned to Cambodia's National Museum.

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And it seems that there's more here to find.

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What do we have?

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Yes.

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We found an alliance that...

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Oh, here.

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You think this is the face?

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Yeah, the face.

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Okay, that's the mouth?

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Yeah.

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That's the mouth.

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The teeth.

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You can see the teeth?

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Yes, yes, yes.

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There are the teeth.

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I see them.

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So this is probably guarding the entrance to the temple.

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Yeah.

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If the lion fragment we dug up earlier was impressive, this nearly intact lion statue is breathtaking.

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And for the team here, another first.

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You know, we never see the head of the lion.

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Never found this before?

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Yeah, never found it.

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Uh-huh.

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Every lion always loves the...

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The heads were cut off.

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Yeah.

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Wow.

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Yeah.

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First time we're seeing this.

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Yeah.

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The looters who raided this temple left statues behind in their haste.

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This lion was clearly one of them.

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The rest of the crew eagerly joins in to fully reveal it.

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The statue weighs hundreds of pounds, so we have to add an industrial strap to hoist it

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out of the ground.

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I'm going to go to the left.

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Okay, ready?

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Here we go.

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Up.

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Good.

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Up, fastly.

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Okay, go down.

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Once it's out of the ground, steel bars can be threaded through the straps for transport.

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The plan is we're going to just deadlift it.

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Yeah.

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Just like this.

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Okay.

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One, two, three, four.

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This is horrible.

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All right.

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Slowly.

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Okay.

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Let's not do that again.

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We set the statue down and get our first look at this guardian beast.

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First of all, how beautiful is this?

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Yeah, it's beautiful.

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Stunning.

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I feel very, very happy and heart to see the guardian of the Prasakacab back to protect

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this temple again.

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That's right.

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They've been missing for centuries.

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Yes.

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It's incredible.

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Awesome.

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Awesome.

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Incredible.

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The lions, the inscriptions, the pediment, all reminders of just how ornate and holy

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this city once was, which only deepens our central mystery.

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How did a place this sacred crumble in only two generations?

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The answer may be in finding more of what was left behind.

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While the team continues their work here, I travel through the ruins to another of the

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capital's massive temple complexes, this one called Prasat-Tam, to reconnect with

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lawyer Brad Gortin.

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Brad has major news to report on one of Gacke's most looted sites.

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Wow.

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Josh, welcome to Prasat-Tam, the heart of the city of Gacke.

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This is stunning.

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I mean, the scale of it is unbelievable.

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This is another world.

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It's amazing.

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And I'm not sure I should be standing here.

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Yeah, I would be a bit careful.

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You know, it is disassembling.

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And look how the jungle is reclaiming this beautiful brick temple.

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This is outrageous.

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Brad has brought me to this complex to introduce me to a crucial witness who he's recruited

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to help his cause, a former looter who was a member of Cambodia's most prolific smuggling

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ring.

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And the guy we're here to meet?

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He's just around the corner.

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It has taken Brad years to gain the confidence of the man codenamed Blue Tiger.

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And he has only agreed to meet us if we grant him anonymity and blur his face.

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Will this clandestine meeting be a dead end?

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Or will Blue Tiger be the key to finding Gacke's treasures?

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Josh, this is Blue Tiger.

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Very nice to meet you.

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Thank you for talking with us.

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In the ruins of the ancient Cambodian capital known as Gacke, I'm meeting a former looter

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who once made his living stealing precious works of art from temples like these.

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Blue Tiger was born not so far away from Gacke.

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When he was a teenager, he was a Khmer Rouge child soldier.

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Among their more heinous sins, the communist regime of the Khmer Rouge denied education

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to impoverished children and forced them to serve as soldiers.

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After the fall of the regime, many turned to looting in organized gangs.

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It is estimated that they stole hundreds or even thousands of sculptures from Gacke.

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Can you remember when you first came to this temple?

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I came here with my grandfather when I was six or seven years old in 1963 or 1964.

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And when you were first here, what do you remember about this place?

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What was here?

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There were several statues on the pedestals along the walls of this room.

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There was a large god crouched here.

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A sketch done in the late 19th century by a French explorer backs up Blue Tiger's account.

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Of the statues he depicted, only one has been located in a collection in Thailand.

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The rest have been scattered to the four corners of the globe.

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And other statues of the site were taken as well, yes?

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Yes, we did take other statues from the rest of the site.

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Can you show us?

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Blue Tiger leads us outside to a colonnade of ancient fallen stone.

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The complex is surrounded by a silent moat, one of the few remaining features of a water

257
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management system that once supplied this landlocked city with fresh water.

258
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What was here?

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In this temple behind us, there was a huge statue 15 feet tall, five heads, and 18 arms.

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And it was known as the Dancing Shiva.

261
00:13:37,020 --> 00:13:40,140
A huge statue, and so what became of this?

262
00:13:40,140 --> 00:13:45,140
A number of years ago in the 1990s, a group of looters came and they blew it up.

263
00:13:45,140 --> 00:13:47,180
They blew it up like exploded it?

264
00:13:47,180 --> 00:13:49,100
Why?

265
00:13:49,100 --> 00:13:54,060
There was a legend that the Dancing Shiva was filled with treasure.

266
00:13:54,060 --> 00:13:59,180
They thought there was gold underneath, there were gems in the head, there was treasure

267
00:13:59,180 --> 00:14:02,380
inside, so they blew it up.

268
00:14:02,380 --> 00:14:05,400
We think many of the pieces may still be in the moat.

269
00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:06,400
In the moat?

270
00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:08,740
Oh, it actually exploded out into the water?

271
00:14:08,740 --> 00:14:09,740
Yes.

272
00:14:09,740 --> 00:14:10,740
Wow.

273
00:14:10,740 --> 00:14:16,740
Only about 30% of the 7 ton Dancing Shiva statue has been recovered, and is now being

274
00:14:16,740 --> 00:14:22,620
painstakingly reassembled piece by tiny piece in a conservation lab.

275
00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:24,780
And that's not the only thing in the water.

276
00:14:24,780 --> 00:14:27,020
What else went into the water?

277
00:14:27,020 --> 00:14:31,260
The Khmer Rouge toppled statues into the moat to hide them, with the plan to smuggle

278
00:14:31,260 --> 00:14:32,660
them later.

279
00:14:32,660 --> 00:14:38,380
The moat was once lined with dozens of statues, the pedestals to which still stand right behind

280
00:14:38,380 --> 00:14:39,380
us.

281
00:14:39,380 --> 00:14:44,380
There was also a carved railing in the form of a serpent deity known as a Naga that has

282
00:14:44,380 --> 00:14:46,580
been largely destroyed.

283
00:14:46,580 --> 00:14:50,860
So there may be priceless statues here underwater?

284
00:14:50,860 --> 00:14:51,980
That's where they were tipped.

285
00:14:51,980 --> 00:14:53,660
They should still be hidden there.

286
00:14:53,660 --> 00:14:56,340
Okay, so how do we recover those?

287
00:14:56,340 --> 00:14:57,820
That's a challenge.

288
00:14:57,820 --> 00:14:59,620
Okay.

289
00:14:59,620 --> 00:15:05,100
Blue Tiger has given us a new place to look for priceless statues that could tell us more

290
00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:09,420
about the fate of King Jayavarman's capital city.

291
00:15:09,420 --> 00:15:14,940
And to search the murky depths, Brad has called in the best.

292
00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:15,940
Dave Phillips.

293
00:15:15,940 --> 00:15:16,940
Josh Gates.

294
00:15:16,940 --> 00:15:17,940
How are you, man?

295
00:15:17,940 --> 00:15:18,940
Great to see you.

296
00:15:18,940 --> 00:15:19,940
We've got to stop meeting like this.

297
00:15:19,940 --> 00:15:20,940
Oh.

298
00:15:20,940 --> 00:15:21,940
What's up?

299
00:15:21,940 --> 00:15:22,940
Hey.

300
00:15:22,940 --> 00:15:23,940
From frigid northern Minnesota.

301
00:15:23,940 --> 00:15:26,380
To sweltering northern Cambodia.

302
00:15:26,380 --> 00:15:32,020
Dave Phillips and I are old friends from my search for a stolen pair of ruby slippers.

303
00:15:32,020 --> 00:15:36,380
Now, he's brought his talents and tools to Cambodia.

304
00:15:36,380 --> 00:15:38,340
So we've got a legit looking ROV here.

305
00:15:38,340 --> 00:15:40,500
It is, remotely operated vehicle.

306
00:15:40,500 --> 00:15:45,380
This one has a very high resolution camera as well as a multi-beam sonar, which is probably

307
00:15:45,380 --> 00:15:46,620
pretty important in this visibility.

308
00:15:46,620 --> 00:15:49,100
Yeah, it's worth far more than the video.

309
00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:54,220
The sonar allows the operator to virtually see in low visibility environments.

310
00:15:54,220 --> 00:16:00,420
And this video ray defender ROV also has seven independent thrusters to carefully maneuver.

311
00:16:00,420 --> 00:16:04,220
Okay, so depth here in the moat, we think is what?

312
00:16:04,220 --> 00:16:07,300
Anywhere from maybe five feet to 15 feet.

313
00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:09,340
This is a true unknown.

314
00:16:09,340 --> 00:16:10,700
He knows what's in this mode.

315
00:16:10,700 --> 00:16:13,620
Yeah, nobody has ever used this kind of technology here.

316
00:16:13,620 --> 00:16:15,140
This is the first time today.

317
00:16:15,140 --> 00:16:16,140
Should we look underwater?

318
00:16:16,140 --> 00:16:17,140
Let's go.

319
00:16:17,140 --> 00:16:18,140
Let's do it.

320
00:16:18,140 --> 00:16:19,140
Come on.

321
00:16:19,140 --> 00:16:20,140
All right.

322
00:16:20,140 --> 00:16:25,140
Okay, it's going in.

323
00:16:25,140 --> 00:16:30,620
Okay, we're clear.

324
00:16:30,620 --> 00:16:33,220
Okay.

325
00:16:33,220 --> 00:16:34,220
Going down.

326
00:16:34,220 --> 00:16:38,020
Here we go.

327
00:16:38,020 --> 00:16:41,580
Going three feet.

328
00:16:41,580 --> 00:16:42,580
We're on the bottom.

329
00:16:42,580 --> 00:16:46,540
Okay, about six feet.

330
00:16:46,540 --> 00:16:48,700
Let's push forward and see what's there.

331
00:16:48,700 --> 00:16:54,740
The items we're looking for, carved sandstone sculptures, have no business in a water reservoir,

332
00:16:54,740 --> 00:16:58,940
so we should know them when we see them.

333
00:16:58,940 --> 00:17:00,420
Something sort of squared off ahead of us there.

334
00:17:00,420 --> 00:17:01,420
You see that?

335
00:17:01,420 --> 00:17:02,420
Yeah.

336
00:17:02,420 --> 00:17:03,420
Let's check it out.

337
00:17:03,420 --> 00:17:05,900
Oh, there it is.

338
00:17:05,900 --> 00:17:07,820
Yep, right there.

339
00:17:07,820 --> 00:17:09,260
Look at that.

340
00:17:09,260 --> 00:17:11,140
That submerged stone, for sure.

341
00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:12,140
No question, right?

342
00:17:12,140 --> 00:17:13,140
No question.

343
00:17:13,140 --> 00:17:14,140
Yep.

344
00:17:14,140 --> 00:17:16,260
Okay, so we've got some scattered blocks down there.

345
00:17:16,260 --> 00:17:17,260
That's a good start.

346
00:17:17,260 --> 00:17:22,220
The question is whether there's any of this sandstone, any of this sculpture mixed in

347
00:17:22,220 --> 00:17:23,220
with that.

348
00:17:23,220 --> 00:17:26,420
The problem is even with this sonar that can guide us to these objects, when you get on

349
00:17:26,420 --> 00:17:28,460
top of them, it's just so murky.

350
00:17:28,460 --> 00:17:30,940
It's so hard to see what's really there.

351
00:17:30,940 --> 00:17:33,500
Well, I know another way.

352
00:17:33,500 --> 00:17:34,500
Nope.

353
00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:35,500
Yes, yes.

354
00:17:35,500 --> 00:17:36,500
Dave, yes.

355
00:17:37,380 --> 00:17:38,540
You're doing so good right now.

356
00:17:38,540 --> 00:17:40,620
Don't go ruin this.

357
00:17:40,620 --> 00:17:41,620
Yeah.

358
00:17:41,620 --> 00:17:44,220
This is, we've got some great 21st century tech here.

359
00:17:44,220 --> 00:17:45,220
That's really all we need.

360
00:17:45,220 --> 00:17:47,900
You know, I know just the man for the job.

361
00:17:47,900 --> 00:17:49,380
Yep, I do too.

362
00:17:49,380 --> 00:17:51,980
Attorney Brad Gordon, underwater lawyer.

363
00:17:51,980 --> 00:17:53,580
Brad, you ready to?

364
00:17:53,580 --> 00:17:55,180
I can't even swim.

365
00:17:55,180 --> 00:17:58,940
I can't even swim!

366
00:17:58,940 --> 00:18:01,260
Looks like I'm going in there after all.

367
00:18:01,260 --> 00:18:03,380
So I gear up to dive.

368
00:18:03,380 --> 00:18:07,700
While the water may look calm, to me, that just means it's hiding something.

369
00:18:07,700 --> 00:18:08,700
Good luck, Josh.

370
00:18:08,700 --> 00:18:11,700
Okay, nice to see you.

371
00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:12,700
Be safe.

372
00:18:12,700 --> 00:18:20,700
All right, I'm headed down to the bottom.

373
00:18:20,700 --> 00:18:28,700
Here we go.

374
00:18:28,700 --> 00:18:35,700
How's that looking, Josh?

375
00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:44,700
Well, it's looking like zero visibility to me.

376
00:18:44,700 --> 00:18:54,700
Very hard to see down here.

377
00:18:54,700 --> 00:19:01,660
Hey Josh, be really careful.

378
00:19:01,660 --> 00:19:08,260
There's supposed to be like water snakes around.

379
00:19:08,260 --> 00:19:12,460
There have been recent sightings of blue crate snakes in the water.

380
00:19:12,460 --> 00:19:17,340
If one of them is in here with me today and decides to take a bite, I have about a 7 in

381
00:19:17,340 --> 00:19:20,380
10 chance of dying before I get to a hospital.

382
00:19:20,380 --> 00:19:27,380
So let's find a statue fast and then get the hell out of here.

383
00:19:27,380 --> 00:19:44,380
Are you seeing any inscriptions or carvings?

384
00:19:44,380 --> 00:20:06,380
Now this just looks like fairly plain water right block.

385
00:20:06,380 --> 00:20:12,380
Okay, they're not wrong with them.

386
00:20:12,380 --> 00:20:19,380
Josh, can you bring that item up?

387
00:20:19,380 --> 00:20:26,980
Josh, what is it?

388
00:20:26,980 --> 00:20:30,660
Looks like sandstone.

389
00:20:30,660 --> 00:20:33,500
Maybe a statue along the motor, maybe even the dancing Shiva.

390
00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:34,500
We'll have to check.

391
00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:35,500
That can be a piece.

392
00:20:35,500 --> 00:20:36,500
Yes.

393
00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:37,500
Okay, amazing.

394
00:20:37,500 --> 00:20:38,500
I'm going to keep walking.

395
00:20:38,500 --> 00:20:39,500
Okay, keep going.

396
00:20:39,500 --> 00:20:40,500
Awesome.

397
00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:41,500
Here we go.

398
00:20:41,500 --> 00:20:50,500
Let's see what else is down here.

399
00:20:50,500 --> 00:21:00,500
Hold on, I got another piece of stone down here.

400
00:21:00,500 --> 00:21:01,500
Looks like more sandstone.

401
00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:09,500
This looks like it might have powdered it on it.

402
00:21:09,500 --> 00:21:11,500
Oh, that is really cool.

403
00:21:11,500 --> 00:21:14,500
Half a week later, we have curving on it.

404
00:21:14,500 --> 00:21:19,500
I'm going to bring it to the surface now.

405
00:21:19,500 --> 00:21:24,500
Okay, great.

406
00:21:24,500 --> 00:21:29,500
Wow, look at that design.

407
00:21:29,500 --> 00:21:31,500
It's curved, yes.

408
00:21:31,500 --> 00:21:32,500
Yeah, it's curved.

409
00:21:32,500 --> 00:21:37,500
It looks like snake skin.

410
00:21:37,500 --> 00:21:43,340
I'm in the Cambodian ruins of Gake, searching for the remnants of looted statues that once

411
00:21:43,340 --> 00:21:45,500
adorned this ancient capital.

412
00:21:45,500 --> 00:21:51,500
Now, in the moat of this holy temple complex, it looks like we found something remarkable.

413
00:21:51,500 --> 00:21:53,500
I have markings on it.

414
00:21:53,500 --> 00:21:57,500
We'll have to bring it to the team and see where it came from.

415
00:21:57,500 --> 00:21:59,340
Maybe one of these statues along here.

416
00:21:59,340 --> 00:22:02,500
But that's for sure, that's work sandstone, that's from something.

417
00:22:02,500 --> 00:22:05,500
Yes, this is from something that was carved a thousand years ago.

418
00:22:05,500 --> 00:22:06,500
How about that?

419
00:22:06,500 --> 00:22:08,500
Yeah, incredible.

420
00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:15,500
The pattern on the second fragment I found suggests that it may be part of the carved

421
00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:18,500
naga serpent that once encircled the moat.

422
00:22:18,500 --> 00:22:23,500
Most importantly, we have confirmed that there are fragments of sculpture in the water here

423
00:22:23,500 --> 00:22:27,500
and have given the team a whole new region in which to search.

424
00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:30,500
As for me, right now I have one priority.

425
00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:31,500
Can I get out of this water now?

426
00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:32,500
Yeah, come on up.

427
00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:33,500
You sure?

428
00:22:33,500 --> 00:22:34,500
Yes.

429
00:22:34,500 --> 00:22:35,500
Dave, can I get out?

430
00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:36,500
Yeah, I can.

431
00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:37,500
He's the worst, he's the worst.

432
00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:40,500
Did anybody have any hand sanitizer?

433
00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:49,500
Gake continues to be a magnificent puzzle with pieces we're recovering one at a time.

434
00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:53,500
But the biggest question of all remains, what happened to it?

435
00:22:53,500 --> 00:22:59,500
How did Jayavarman's city of dreams fall only a few years after his son Harshavarman

436
00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:00,500
took control?

437
00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:05,500
The answer might be found with the king who took power after them and who moved the capital

438
00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:15,500
back to Angkor.

439
00:23:15,500 --> 00:23:21,500
Early the next morning, I travel south to the one-time home of a million ancient Khmer people,

440
00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:27,500
to the city which Jayavarman spurned to build Gake and to where the capital would return

441
00:23:27,500 --> 00:23:42,500
soon after, eventually blossoming into this.

442
00:23:42,500 --> 00:23:47,500
If you don't know it by name, odds are you know it when you see it, Angkor Wat.

443
00:23:47,500 --> 00:23:52,500
Built in the 12th century, it is one of humankind's most impressive achievements.

444
00:23:52,500 --> 00:23:58,500
It is the largest temple complex on the planet and along with King Kong, it is rightly billed

445
00:23:58,500 --> 00:24:05,500
as the eighth wonder of the world.

446
00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:15,500
It is a maze of beauty set in stone, concentric plazas and shadowy corridors bordered by massive

447
00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:18,500
towers in the shape of lotus flowers.

448
00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:26,500
Everything you see here was created 200 years after the mysterious fall of Gake.

449
00:24:26,500 --> 00:24:30,500
So why did Jayavarman IV's dream city collapse?

450
00:24:30,500 --> 00:24:38,500
Well the answer might be right around the corner.

451
00:24:38,500 --> 00:24:44,500
Nearby is the enigmatic pyramid of Bakseh Changkhrong, where I'm meeting Cambodia's deputy director

452
00:24:44,500 --> 00:24:49,500
of antiquities, Mea Sopeep.

453
00:24:49,500 --> 00:24:51,500
How are you?

454
00:24:51,500 --> 00:24:52,500
I'm good and how about you?

455
00:24:52,500 --> 00:24:53,500
I'm great, how can I not be?

456
00:24:53,500 --> 00:24:55,500
Look at this, this is amazing.

457
00:24:55,500 --> 00:24:56,500
Amazing.

458
00:24:56,500 --> 00:24:58,500
It's like something out of a movie.

459
00:24:58,500 --> 00:24:59,500
Yes, it is.

460
00:24:59,500 --> 00:25:00,500
Isn't it?

461
00:25:00,500 --> 00:25:01,500
Yeah.

462
00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:05,500
This temple built before but finished by the reign of King Rajendra Varman II.

463
00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:10,500
Right, after Jayavarman IV and his son Harshavarman II, this guy comes along, he's the next king.

464
00:25:10,500 --> 00:25:11,500
He's the next king.

465
00:25:11,500 --> 00:25:14,500
And he moves the capital back here to Angkor?

466
00:25:14,500 --> 00:25:17,500
Yes, he moved the capital from Gake to Angkor.

467
00:25:17,500 --> 00:25:20,500
So the big question then is how does he do that, how does he pull that off?

468
00:25:20,500 --> 00:25:22,500
We have some clue up at the top.

469
00:25:22,500 --> 00:25:23,500
At the top?

470
00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:25,500
I was afraid you were going to say that.

471
00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:26,500
Are we going up?

472
00:25:26,500 --> 00:25:27,500
Yes.

473
00:25:27,500 --> 00:25:34,500
All right, let's do it, come on.

474
00:25:34,500 --> 00:25:39,500
We'll clamber up what's left of the stairs which have crumbled to a nearly sheer face.

475
00:25:39,500 --> 00:25:42,500
Okay, just don't look down.

476
00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:44,500
Don't look down.

477
00:25:44,500 --> 00:25:47,500
Oh yeah, this is sketchy.

478
00:25:47,500 --> 00:25:48,500
Yes.

479
00:25:48,500 --> 00:25:52,500
Almost there.

480
00:25:52,500 --> 00:25:53,500
Yes.

481
00:25:53,500 --> 00:25:54,500
Look at this.

482
00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:55,500
We did it.

483
00:25:55,500 --> 00:25:56,500
On top of the world.

484
00:25:56,500 --> 00:25:57,500
Yes.

485
00:25:57,500 --> 00:25:59,500
Okay, so what do we have here?

486
00:25:59,500 --> 00:26:01,500
You can see beautiful inscription.

487
00:26:01,500 --> 00:26:02,500
Look at this.

488
00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:03,500
It's such a pretty script.

489
00:26:03,500 --> 00:26:04,500
Very beautiful.

490
00:26:04,500 --> 00:26:06,500
It's just like they cow on the clay.

491
00:26:06,500 --> 00:26:09,500
That's right.

492
00:26:09,500 --> 00:26:11,500
So what do we have in these inscriptions?

493
00:26:11,500 --> 00:26:17,500
In this inscription we have all the lists of the king, up to the rena king, Rajendra Verma, the second.

494
00:26:17,500 --> 00:26:20,500
So this royal list showing all the kings that came before him.

495
00:26:20,500 --> 00:26:21,500
All the kings, yes.

496
00:26:21,500 --> 00:26:25,500
And so we find inscriptions like this at many of the temples in Angkor, yes?

497
00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:26,500
Yes, many, many.

498
00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:29,500
And do the inscriptions tell us how he sees the king?

499
00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:31,500
Not exactly, but it gives some clues.

500
00:26:31,500 --> 00:26:32,500
Clues?

501
00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:33,500
What kind of clues?

502
00:26:33,500 --> 00:26:37,500
I have some translation from the inscription.

503
00:26:37,500 --> 00:26:47,500
Sopeep shows me translations of Khmer inscriptions that describe Rajendra Varman as having a body as hard as a diamond and a sword stained with blood.

504
00:26:47,500 --> 00:26:53,500
It's a vivid portrait of a leader who appears to have used violence more than diplomacy.

505
00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:58,500
It seems that King Jai's father, King Jai, was the first to come to the temple.

506
00:26:58,500 --> 00:27:03,500
It seems that King Jai Varman puts his cousin Rajendra Varman in charge of the army.

507
00:27:03,500 --> 00:27:11,500
Then, when Jai Varman's son inherits the throne, perhaps Rajendra Varman decides he's better qualified to rule.

508
00:27:11,500 --> 00:27:13,500
We've seen it a million times in history.

509
00:27:13,500 --> 00:27:15,500
Maybe this is the classic coup.

510
00:27:15,500 --> 00:27:20,500
Right, the military general, he has the support of the army, and he says, you know what, I want to be king.

511
00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:22,500
The question then becomes, how does he pull it off?

512
00:27:22,500 --> 00:27:26,500
Right, even if he has the support of the army, how does he get it?

513
00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:29,500
By all accounts, Gakke is a pretty powerful kingdom.

514
00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:32,500
Yes, Gakke was a very powerful kingdom.

515
00:27:32,500 --> 00:27:35,500
Jai Varman ruled around 20 years at Gakke.

516
00:27:35,500 --> 00:27:36,500
Right.

517
00:27:36,500 --> 00:27:42,500
But unfortunately, his son, Hassar Varman, the second, he ruled only 2 to 3 years.

518
00:27:42,500 --> 00:27:44,500
Maybe he was not great as his father.

519
00:27:44,500 --> 00:27:50,500
Right, maybe his father was the real powerhouse who built this empire out there, and the son couldn't maintain it.

520
00:27:50,500 --> 00:27:55,500
Yeah, that might be the weakness that allowed King Rajendra Varman to defeat Gakke.

521
00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:56,500
Right.

522
00:27:56,500 --> 00:28:01,500
And another possibility, that there are something happened in the city.

523
00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:05,500
Something went wrong at the city, something made it weak, and so he seized that opportunity.

524
00:28:05,500 --> 00:28:06,500
Yes.

525
00:28:06,500 --> 00:28:07,500
But we don't know what that could be.

526
00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:08,500
We really don't know this.

527
00:28:08,500 --> 00:28:10,500
Okay, so we still have a mystery here.

528
00:28:10,500 --> 00:28:13,500
Yes, and mystery that needs to be solved.

529
00:28:14,500 --> 00:28:20,500
It now seems likely that the capital of Gakke was conquered by Rajendra Varman II,

530
00:28:20,500 --> 00:28:25,500
but we still need to unlock how such a powerful city was left so vulnerable.

531
00:28:25,500 --> 00:28:33,500
I get back on the bike and return to Gakke to meet an expert who believes she and her team may have found the answer.

532
00:28:33,500 --> 00:28:34,500
Hello.

533
00:28:34,500 --> 00:28:35,500
Hey Josh.

534
00:28:35,500 --> 00:28:36,500
How are you?

535
00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:38,500
I'm guessing you're Sarah.

536
00:28:38,500 --> 00:28:39,500
I'm Sarah, nice to meet you.

537
00:28:39,500 --> 00:28:40,500
Nice to meet you as well.

538
00:28:40,500 --> 00:28:41,500
So you made it.

539
00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:42,500
I made it.

540
00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:45,500
All right, so tell me how you fit into this puzzle out here, this excavation.

541
00:28:45,500 --> 00:28:46,500
What do you do?

542
00:28:46,500 --> 00:28:47,500
Yeah, I'm an archaeologist.

543
00:28:47,500 --> 00:28:49,500
I specialize in remote sensing.

544
00:28:49,500 --> 00:28:51,500
Remote sensing is psychic viewing, right?

545
00:28:51,500 --> 00:28:52,500
That's where you...

546
00:28:52,500 --> 00:28:53,500
Not quite.

547
00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:54,500
No, it's not.

548
00:28:54,500 --> 00:28:59,500
No, the remote sensing is like things like ground penetrating radar, LiDAR technology, laser scanning, right?

549
00:28:59,500 --> 00:29:00,500
Things like that.

550
00:29:00,500 --> 00:29:01,500
All the fun goodies.

551
00:29:01,500 --> 00:29:02,500
Exactly.

552
00:29:02,500 --> 00:29:11,500
LiDAR uses laser pulses fired from above to see beneath canopies of vegetation, allowing us to find long hidden structures.

553
00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:15,500
And has this sort of technology been used out here in the past?

554
00:29:15,500 --> 00:29:16,500
No.

555
00:29:16,500 --> 00:29:19,500
This site's been pretty much off limits until very recently.

556
00:29:19,500 --> 00:29:21,500
All the research that we're doing is really cutting edge.

557
00:29:21,500 --> 00:29:22,500
It's new and exciting.

558
00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:24,500
We're kind of starting from scratch in many ways.

559
00:29:24,500 --> 00:29:28,500
Can remote sensing, can things like LiDAR help explain the collapse of this place?

560
00:29:28,500 --> 00:29:29,500
Do you want to take a look?

561
00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:30,500
Yeah, can you show me?

562
00:29:30,500 --> 00:29:31,500
Absolutely.

563
00:29:31,500 --> 00:29:32,500
All right, are we on foot?

564
00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:33,500
No, we got to take the bikes.

565
00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:34,500
Yes, let's do it.

566
00:29:41,500 --> 00:29:45,500
To see if Sarah's LiDAR scan has struck archaeological paiter, we ride through the

567
00:29:45,500 --> 00:29:52,500
back roads of Gacke, marveling at its seemingly endless collection of ruins.

568
00:29:55,500 --> 00:29:56,500
The place is incredible.

569
00:29:56,500 --> 00:29:58,500
There's just stuff everywhere.

570
00:30:01,500 --> 00:30:09,500
Sarah leads me through the city to a wide open area that today looks like swamp land, but scans show otherwise.

571
00:30:09,500 --> 00:30:16,500
In Gacke's prime, this was the Rahal, the largest manmade reservoir in the Khmer Empire.

572
00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:21,500
This mile long expanse was responsible for Gacke's very existence.

573
00:30:21,500 --> 00:30:26,500
Without fresh water, Jayavarman's dream city simply couldn't survive.

574
00:30:26,500 --> 00:30:29,500
So, where did all that water come from?

575
00:30:30,500 --> 00:30:31,500
Okay, where are we headed?

576
00:30:31,500 --> 00:30:32,500
Just up the road.

577
00:30:32,500 --> 00:30:33,500
We're almost there.

578
00:30:39,500 --> 00:30:41,500
Yeah, right over here.

579
00:30:44,500 --> 00:30:45,500
What do we have here?

580
00:30:46,500 --> 00:30:47,500
This is a dam.

581
00:30:48,500 --> 00:30:49,500
This is a dam?

582
00:30:49,500 --> 00:30:50,500
A dam.

583
00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:51,500
Oh yeah, these blocks here.

584
00:30:51,500 --> 00:30:52,500
Wow.

585
00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:56,500
That's right, this is the spillway of a dam that stretches the north.

586
00:30:57,500 --> 00:31:03,500
Today, it looks like an overgrown wall in the jungle, but Sarah's LiDAR sees more.

587
00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:10,500
A massive four mile long dam that stretched from Gacke to a river in the jungle.

588
00:31:10,500 --> 00:31:16,500
The dam blocked the river and channeled it into reservoirs that supplied the city with life-giving water.

589
00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:20,500
So a thousand years ago, if you were arriving here, you would have looked out and seen this.

590
00:31:20,500 --> 00:31:21,500
Exactly.

591
00:31:21,500 --> 00:31:24,500
So the entry to Khakhar was through this road.

592
00:31:24,500 --> 00:31:26,500
So you'd be walking along this road.

593
00:31:26,500 --> 00:31:29,500
To your right would have been the largest manmade body of water they've ever seen.

594
00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:32,500
And then straight ahead is the pyramid of Khakhar.

595
00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:33,500
Incredible.

596
00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:35,500
It must have been breathtaking.

597
00:31:35,500 --> 00:31:36,500
It would have been a beautiful view.

598
00:31:37,500 --> 00:31:41,500
It is an engineering feat of empire making proportions.

599
00:31:41,500 --> 00:31:47,500
But in this spot, the stone blocks seem to end as though there's a gap in the dam's retaining wall.

600
00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:53,500
So where we're standing, we're at the side of a large stone spillway which would have stretched all the way over there.

601
00:31:53,500 --> 00:31:55,500
So excess water would come over that spillway.

602
00:31:55,500 --> 00:31:56,500
Exactly, yeah.

603
00:31:56,500 --> 00:31:58,500
Am I missing something though?

604
00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:00,500
I don't see a huge stone structure here.

605
00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:01,500
Like where is it?

606
00:32:01,500 --> 00:32:03,500
Well that's where the lighter data becomes interesting.

607
00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:05,500
You can see it's just, it's gone.

608
00:32:05,500 --> 00:32:13,500
The reason may finally explain the fall of Gake, an epic disaster that brought down a capital.

609
00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:15,500
Are we talking about a dam failure?

610
00:32:15,500 --> 00:32:16,500
Dam failure, yep.

611
00:32:16,500 --> 00:32:17,500
Wow.

612
00:32:17,500 --> 00:32:24,500
We know there was some kind of huge event that happened here that completely blasted out this spillway.

613
00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:33,500
Archaeologist Sarah Claessen has brought me to an ancient dam to explain how the city of Gake went from a glittering capital to ruins.

614
00:32:33,500 --> 00:32:35,500
We're talking about a dam failure?

615
00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:37,500
Dam failure, yep.

616
00:32:37,500 --> 00:32:41,500
So at some point, the spillway just completely failed, blasted open.

617
00:32:41,500 --> 00:32:43,500
We've actually found a dam.

618
00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:46,500
The spillway just completely failed, blasted open.

619
00:32:46,500 --> 00:32:52,500
We've actually found spillway blocks, like huge laterites, spillway blocks, hundreds of feet downstream from here.

620
00:32:52,500 --> 00:32:53,500
Just like out in the jungle?

621
00:32:53,500 --> 00:32:56,500
Yeah, they were carried down when this spillway failed.

622
00:32:56,500 --> 00:32:59,500
So what would the immediate effect have been of the failure?

623
00:32:59,500 --> 00:33:00,500
Catastrophic.

624
00:33:00,500 --> 00:33:03,500
It's not only a source of water for drinking.

625
00:33:03,500 --> 00:33:07,500
It's used for agriculture, for fish, for protein.

626
00:33:07,500 --> 00:33:10,500
There are a lot of reasons why you need to have a large source of water.

627
00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:12,500
Right, it's food and drink.

628
00:33:12,500 --> 00:33:13,500
It's food for life.

629
00:33:13,500 --> 00:33:14,500
Right?

630
00:33:14,500 --> 00:33:18,500
And this is a remote city out here in the jungle trying to support how many people?

631
00:33:18,500 --> 00:33:20,500
Tens of thousands of people, we think.

632
00:33:20,500 --> 00:33:21,500
Right.

633
00:33:21,500 --> 00:33:26,500
And if you lose, in an instant, your ability to feed people, to give people water, it's over.

634
00:33:26,500 --> 00:33:27,500
Exactly.

635
00:33:27,500 --> 00:33:34,500
We learned back at Angkor that Gake may have been weakened somehow, leaving it vulnerable to assault.

636
00:33:34,500 --> 00:33:38,500
And we've seen that this next king, Regender of Armin, he comes in.

637
00:33:38,500 --> 00:33:41,040
seems to come out of nowhere and take control

638
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,240
and move the Capitol back to Ancourt.

639
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,320
It's possible that he seized on this moment of weakness

640
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,640
and came in and took the throne back.

641
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:49,480
Look at that.

642
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,480
21st century technology, 1,000 year old mystery.

643
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:53,320
There we go.

644
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:54,520
Incredible.

645
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:56,560
Thanks to Sarah's work and the power

646
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,840
of cutting edge technology, one mystery about Gacay

647
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:01,120
may be solved.

648
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,880
But we're also here to investigate a crime,

649
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,640
the wholesale theft of the city's statues.

650
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,200
Brad Gordon and the Cambodian archaeological team

651
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:13,320
are back at the Prasat Khrichap temple complex

652
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,880
to excavate where gangs of looters stole priceless art

653
00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:21,080
and to discover if any treasures were left behind.

654
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:22,120
Gacay.

655
00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:22,760
Hey, Chos.

656
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:23,400
Hello again.

657
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:24,040
Hello again.

658
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:24,560
How you doing?

659
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:25,360
I'm fine.

660
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:26,440
Back in another pit?

661
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:27,320
Yeah.

662
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:28,400
And where are we now?

663
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,640
We are in the first enclosure Prasat Chap

664
00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,240
in front of the central tower.

665
00:34:33,240 --> 00:34:35,160
We've gone deeper inside the temple

666
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:37,680
from where we found the pediment earlier.

667
00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,960
Former looters have told Brad that this is the location

668
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,960
where they stole dozens of statues.

669
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:46,760
Among them is the magnificent Skanda and Shiva,

670
00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:48,880
now in the National Museum.

671
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,960
That masterpiece, the crown jewel of Gacay,

672
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:56,360
was taken from someplace very close by.

673
00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:58,160
So where are you digging?

674
00:34:58,160 --> 00:34:59,720
Good stuff with that.

675
00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:00,160
Let's go.

676
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:09,560
We scrape into the hard earth, working through dense tree

677
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,560
roots that have grown over and through the buildings here.

678
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:20,560
Archaeologist Tak Panit is the first to hit pater.

679
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:21,960
Oh, we have something here.

680
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:22,560
You have something?

681
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:23,160
Yeah, yeah.

682
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:23,760
Sandstone?

683
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:24,960
Yeah, it's a sandstone.

684
00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:26,960
It's maybe the statue.

685
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:27,560
Statue?

686
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:29,560
Maybe the foot.

687
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:30,560
A foot from a statue?

688
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,560
Yeah.

689
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:33,960
What a bad guy.

690
00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:34,960
Is it small?

691
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:35,960
Oh, exactly.

692
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:36,960
It's a foot?

693
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:37,960
Yeah.

694
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:38,560
You're sure?

695
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:39,560
Yeah.

696
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:40,560
That's a foot from a statue?

697
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:41,560
Yeah.

698
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:42,560
Ha!

699
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:43,560
This is unbelievable.

700
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:45,960
OK, let's see if we can reveal a bit more of it.

701
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,960
We carefully brush away more dirt from the foot

702
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:49,960
to get a better look.

703
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:51,560
Small, but it's small, isn't it?

704
00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:53,560
Very small.

705
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:55,560
When I see this foot, it reminds me of a story we heard

706
00:35:55,560 --> 00:36:00,560
from the former looters, that they took out a father and son

707
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:01,560
statue from here.

708
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,560
And the father maybe is Jaya Varma in the fourth

709
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:06,560
and the son could be Harshavarma in the second.

710
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:08,560
That statue's never been recovered.

711
00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:11,560
While the foot of a missing statue might not seem important

712
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,560
to Brad, this is forensic gold.

713
00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:18,560
If the stolen statue surfaces in a museum or private collection,

714
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:21,560
the foot will interlock, providing critical evidence

715
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,560
to repatriate the statue to Cambodia.

716
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:25,560
You have a pin.

717
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:26,560
You have a pin.

718
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:27,560
You have to move the pin.

719
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:28,560
From a statue?

720
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:29,560
Yeah.

721
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,560
Panit brings over a block that they've found nearby,

722
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:34,560
known as a pin.

723
00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,560
So these pins basically go into the ground to stabilize

724
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,560
the pedestal under the statue.

725
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:41,560
Could this be with this?

726
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:42,560
Let's try it.

727
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:45,560
If they were paired in antiquity, the statue and pin

728
00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:48,560
should slot together like an ancient Lego.

729
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:50,560
No, not fit.

730
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:51,560
And the other side?

731
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:52,560
Please.

732
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:56,560
Panit gently adjusts the foot to see if it's a match.

733
00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:57,560
That.

734
00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:58,560
Oh, that.

735
00:36:58,560 --> 00:36:59,560
That fits?

736
00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:00,560
Yeah.

737
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:01,560
That locks in there?

738
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:02,560
Yeah.

739
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:03,560
This goes together?

740
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:04,560
Yeah.

741
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:05,560
And we see?

742
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:06,560
Yeah.

743
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:07,560
This is unbelievable.

744
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:10,560
And we can see here there would have been another foot here.

745
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:13,560
That's really amazing.

746
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:17,560
We rush to check our immediate vicinity for more fragments.

747
00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:30,560
Maybe another piece here.

748
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:31,560
Another piece?

749
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:32,560
Yeah.

750
00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:33,560
More sandstone.

751
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:35,560
More sandstone.

752
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,560
We hurry the new piece over to the pin to see if it's part

753
00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,560
of the same statue.

754
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:45,560
Maybe it should be there, there, maybe.

755
00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:48,560
Does it go or is it from another statue?

756
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:49,560
That.

757
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:50,560
Huh?

758
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:51,560
That.

759
00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:53,560
Right there.

760
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:54,560
That's it.

761
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:55,560
We found two.

762
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:56,560
That fits.

763
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:57,560
That's awesome.

764
00:37:57,560 --> 00:37:58,560
That's awesome.

765
00:37:58,560 --> 00:37:59,560
Lucky guy.

766
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:00,560
Come on.

767
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:04,560
Look at that.

768
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,560
This is incredible.

769
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:09,560
Both pieces lock into the pin seamlessly.

770
00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:13,560
We're now rebuilding a destroyed masterwork from the feet up.

771
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,560
We see so many statues and museums missing their feet,

772
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:18,560
missing their arms.

773
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:22,560
It's not until you see the other part that you realize the

774
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:24,560
violence that's been done here, right?

775
00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:27,560
This was this beautiful thing that has literally been hacked

776
00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:28,560
off at the ankles.

777
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,560
You know, the public, when they go to museums, they should

778
00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:32,560
think about this.

779
00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:33,560
Totally.

780
00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:34,560
They should think about this image.

781
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:35,560
Yeah.

782
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,560
That those beautiful statues we see, they belong right here.

783
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:39,560
Yes.

784
00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:42,560
Brad suspects that somewhere in a museum or private collection

785
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:46,560
is a broken statue whose feet we have just recovered.

786
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:50,560
And now for some archaeological police work.

787
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:53,560
Scanning the find with an Artec Leo.

788
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,560
The device takes millions of laser accurate measurements and

789
00:38:56,560 --> 00:39:00,560
stitches them together to form a three dimensional image.

790
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,560
Think of it as a virtual fingerprint or in this case,

791
00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:07,560
footprint that can one day match to a priceless work and bring

792
00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:11,560
it home to Cambodia.

793
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:20,560
Once the scan is finished, we get back to digging.

794
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:22,560
Oh, just a front dancing.

795
00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:24,560
Oh, sandstone.

796
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:25,560
Yeah, sandstone.

797
00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:27,560
It's got a little lip.

798
00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:28,560
Yeah, very smooth.

799
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:29,560
Yeah.

800
00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:32,560
I think that it should be the part of the pedestal.

801
00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:33,560
You think it's part of a pedestal?

802
00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:34,560
Yeah.

803
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:35,560
Oh, because it's so fine?

804
00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:36,560
Yeah, so fine.

805
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:38,560
There's no other pieces to it though, which is frustrating.

806
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:41,560
Josh, you might think I'm crazy, but I would bet you that's

807
00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:43,560
gone and she was pedestal.

808
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:45,560
Really?

809
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:48,560
The one we saw in the museum.

810
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:50,560
OK, hold the phone.

811
00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,560
Brad thinks this was part of the Skanda and Shiva,

812
00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:56,560
the stolen statue that was put on the black market for $25

813
00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:00,560
million by art dealer Douglas Latchford before it was

814
00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:03,560
recovered and brought to the National Museum.

815
00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:06,560
Unquestionably, the greatest piece of art ever found from

816
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,560
Gacay.

817
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,560
The pedestal is very smooth and it has no flower design.

818
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:12,560
Looks just like that.

819
00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:15,560
It's also in the perfect location in terms of what we heard

820
00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:19,560
from the looters about bringing Skanda and Shiva out of the

821
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:20,560
chamber.

822
00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:22,560
Right, that statue was found here.

823
00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:23,560
Right behind you.

824
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:24,560
It's not far.

825
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:25,560
Right.

826
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:26,560
It's on the way.

827
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:27,560
Wow.

828
00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:30,560
Look, I've been looking at photos for years of that statue.

829
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:31,560
I recognize it.

830
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:33,560
You think that's from that statue?

831
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:35,560
That's Skanda and Shiva.

832
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:52,560
Pretty much anything that crawls here is edible,

833
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:56,560
and all of it is deep fried and for sale right here.

834
00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:01,560
You've got your frogs, cockroaches, and of course, tarantulas.

835
00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:02,560
Oh boy.

836
00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:03,560
Yeah, look at that.

837
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:05,560
That's a big tarantula right there.

838
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:08,560
What was once a matter of survival is now a delicacy.

839
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:11,560
Though you are supposed to enjoy these with a nice cold beer or

840
00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:13,560
rice wine, and since I'm driving the bike,

841
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:14,560
I can't really drink and drive.

842
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:15,560
We're stalling.

843
00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:17,560
I'm not stalling.

844
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:18,560
Here we go.

845
00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:23,560
They're pretty good.

846
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:25,560
Eat the abdomen.

847
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:26,560
Everybody's fired.

848
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:31,560
That's tougher.

849
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:33,560
They're the worst spider I've had.

850
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:34,560
All right, time to hit the road.

851
00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:35,560
Let's go.

852
00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:40,560
I'm going to pick it up.

853
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:41,560
OK.

854
00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:42,560
Let's check it.

855
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:52,560
Oh, wow.

856
00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:53,560
See?

857
00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:56,560
So this would be like this?

858
00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:57,560
Yes.

859
00:41:57,560 --> 00:41:58,560
This is the pedestal?

860
00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:00,560
Digging in Cambodia's city of Gacke,

861
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:03,560
we may have just made a historic discovery,

862
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:07,560
a possible fragment of the iconic Skanda and Shiva statue,

863
00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:09,560
which was stolen from this temple,

864
00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:11,560
smuggled out of the country,

865
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:15,560
and held for $25 million on the black market.

866
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:17,560
If this is part of that sculpture,

867
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,560
it would be the largest missing piece of it.

868
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:21,560
The rest of it is almost entirely there.

869
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:22,560
Yes.

870
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:23,560
OK.

871
00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:24,560
Back to Phnom Penh.

872
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:25,560
Back to Phnom Penh.

873
00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:28,560
If there's even a chance that we have a piece

874
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:31,560
of the Skanda and Shiva, there's no time to waste.

875
00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:39,560
So we rush back to the National Museum in Phnom Penh

876
00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:41,560
to assess the find.

877
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:42,560
OK.

878
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:44,560
Moment of truth.

879
00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:47,560
The Skanda and Shiva waits in the restoration lab

880
00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:51,560
with Chea Sochette, the head of conservation at the museum.

881
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,560
Now, it's time to see if our fragment

882
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:57,560
was once part of this iconic statue.

883
00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:59,560
We have brought you a present.

884
00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:00,560
Ah.

885
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:02,560
Which we hope is a part of this.

886
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:03,560
OK.

887
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:04,560
Yes.

888
00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:05,560
I will try.

889
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:08,560
So let's see what we've got.

890
00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:11,560
So this banding does look almost exactly like this.

891
00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:14,560
We attempt to match the piece to some damaged stone

892
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:16,560
in the front of the pedestal.

893
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:17,560
We're here?

894
00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:19,560
No.

895
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:20,560
No.

896
00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:22,560
I want to try another part.

897
00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:23,560
In the back?

898
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:24,560
Yes.

899
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:25,560
OK.

900
00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:27,560
I'm going to try the other part.

901
00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:28,560
OK.

902
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:29,560
OK.

903
00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:30,560
OK.

904
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:31,560
OK.

905
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:32,560
OK.

906
00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:33,560
OK.

907
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:34,560
In the back?

908
00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:35,560
Yes.

909
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:38,560
Right.

910
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:39,560
Oh, OK.

911
00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:40,560
This is more damaged here.

912
00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:42,560
So, Josh, look at this.

913
00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:43,560
Yes.

914
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:44,560
This band here is identical.

915
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:45,560
Right.

916
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:46,560
It's identical.

917
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:47,560
It is.

918
00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:48,560
It's almost the same depth from the top of the pedestal, right?

919
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:49,560
Yes.

920
00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:50,560
Corner, maybe?

921
00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:52,560
No, because it, uh...

922
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:53,560
It's too wide here.

923
00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:54,560
Yes.

924
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:58,560
Let's see if we move it down the line if it fits in.

925
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:00,560
No.

926
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:01,560
No.

927
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:14,560
Huh!

928
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:15,560
Wow, look at that.

929
00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:16,560
It fits.

930
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:17,560
Perfect match.

931
00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:18,560
Yes, good at.

932
00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:19,560
Just interlocked into place.

933
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:20,560
Did you hear that?

934
00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:21,560
That's exactly where it fits.

935
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:22,560
Look at that.

936
00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:23,560
Yes.

937
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:24,560
It is absolutely perfect.

938
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:27,560
You can see exactly where it chipped off right here.

939
00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:28,560
That is insane.

940
00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:29,560
No gap.

941
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:30,560
Perfect match.

942
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:31,560
A perfect fit.

943
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:32,560
Congratulations.

944
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:33,560
Congratulations.

945
00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:34,560
Congratulations.

946
00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:38,560
Just being in the presence of the statue again, I'm reminded what a spectacular piece

947
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:39,560
of art this is.

948
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:45,560
It's like we found a corner of a Picasso painting and walked into one of the greatest museums

949
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:48,560
in the world and fitted it perfectly.

950
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:49,560
Right.

951
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:52,560
That's the thing I keep thinking is that this isn't just a statue.

952
00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:53,560
It is a masterpiece.

953
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:54,560
Yeah, absolutely.

954
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:56,560
This will be reattached?

955
00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:58,560
Yes, absolutely.

956
00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:00,560
And this will eventually go on display to the public?

957
00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:02,560
Yes, this will go on display.

958
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:04,560
I look forward to coming back and seeing it in the museum.

959
00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:05,560
Thank you, Josh.

960
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:06,560
Thank you, Rad.

961
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:07,560
All the best.

962
00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:08,560
All good.

963
00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:09,560
Thank you.

964
00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:15,560
This is an incredible win, one which brings this statue closer to full restoration.

965
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:18,560
And while we celebrate, we get more good news.

966
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:23,560
The inscription we unearthed in Prasat Kurchop's entry has been translated.

967
00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:30,560
It turns out to be a list of 17 people, a list that helps us better understand the population

968
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:34,560
of Gakke a thousand years ago.

969
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:41,560
For Cambodians, both then and now, the Gakke statues possess spirits, and we've just helped

970
00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:43,560
to heal the Skanda and Shiva.

971
00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:48,560
To honor the mending of this national treasure, a group of Buddhist monks has invited me and

972
00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:54,560
the museum team to participate in a ceremony of thanks and prayer.

973
00:45:54,560 --> 00:46:00,560
Thank you so much for organizing today's special blessings, especially for the

974
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:02,560
prayerments that we've just found.

975
00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:08,560
I would like to express my deepest thanks to the Jai and the team for the whole process

976
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:15,560
of this documentary and our bread gardens, that we all work together to get a better

977
00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:21,560
understanding of our voice to get the statue back to Cambodia.

978
00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:22,560
Thank you so much.

979
00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:31,560
Gakke has been in ruins for centuries, but despite the ravages of both time and crime,

980
00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:36,560
it feels to me that at its heart, this place is very much alive.

981
00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:42,560
The remarkable finds here prove that the city was born from the boundless ambition of a king

982
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:45,560
who needed to make his own mark.

983
00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:47,560
And what a mark it was.

984
00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:53,560
He inspired massive monuments and created a center of great art and beauty.

985
00:46:53,560 --> 00:47:00,560
High-tech scans have revealed that the fall of his capital may well have been the result of a 1-2 punch.

986
00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:06,560
The catastrophic failure of a dam which robbed the city of water, coupled with clues carved

987
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:13,560
in stone that an ambitious relative seized his moment to take control.

988
00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:19,560
Today, proud Cambodians are rediscovering this ancient heritage one block at a time,

989
00:47:19,560 --> 00:47:27,560
and former thieves are guiding us to new places to look, below both water and soil.

990
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:34,560
And a tireless advocate seeks justice by bringing looted artifacts back to where they belong.

991
00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:38,560
In fact, not long after our dig came a major announcement.

992
00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:46,560
Brad and his team have negotiated the return of art dealer Douglas Latchford's entire collection of Cambodian art.

993
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:51,560
A brilliant victory in the fight to restore Gakke to glory,

994
00:47:51,560 --> 00:47:57,560
and to inspire all those who make the effort to reach this once-forgotten capital.