SIEM REAP: A Siem Reap province resident donated 77 more artifacts to the Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum for further preservation. Some remain in great shape, while others have faced damage.

According to a statement from the APSARA Authority on July 3, the 77 artifacts include daily tools of the ancient Khmer like pottery, water vessels, knives, axes and plates. The collection also includes jewelry-primarily bracelets.

The donation comes from Siem Reap businessman Nak Borun, who said the collection was partly purchased and partly gifted from locals around Battambang and Banteay Meanchey. He is not sure of the age of the artifacts, but he believes in the Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum’s ability to preserve them and provide context. After touring the museum and seeing the hundreds of ancient artifacts so well preserved and displayed, he entrusted the curators with the safekeeping of his collection as an inheritance for future generations.

Acting director of the Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum, Phuy Savoeut, said that most of the artifacts donated were pottery, probably earthenware from prehistoric and Angkorian times. A large part of the donation consisted of 24 bracelets and 18 axes, but experts have not yet been able to determine their exact age.

He said that upon receiving the artifacts, the museum’s experts began registering and measuring their dimensions, according to procedure. They will then start cleaning and painting to protect the outer layer of the metal from the external environment and reconnect any decaying metal pieces to their original form as much as possible. The artifacts are stored at a constant temperature for protection.

The Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum plans to display the collection to the public to visit and explore after experts have completed research on the history of the 77 artifacts.