Authorities at the Angkor Temple Complex in Siem Reap province yesterday announced the discovery of two statues dating from the 10th century, uncovered during the digging of a water channel.

In a statement released on its website, the Apsara Authority, which runs and manages the Unesco World Heritage site, said the two statues will be sent to archaeologists for research purposes.

“We found them while digging a small canal around the Banteay Srey temple,” said Apsara Authority spokesperson Chao Sun Kerya.

The canal is intended to hold rainwater runoff currently gathering in the temple.

Sun Kerya said the red sandstone sculptures, which are about 29 centimetres tall and 12 centimetres wide, are in the Banteay Srei style. Banteay Srei is a 10th-century temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, located 25 kilometres northeast of the main group of temples.

According to Saray Kim Hol, a conservationist working at the park, this is just the latest finding of antiquities during routine maintenance work on the site, with other statues recently found near the eastern Gate 3.

In July, two statues were found by a farmer as he ploughed his land, which lies just outside the complex. Those statues were judged to originate from the Bayon era, at the end of the 13th century.