The technical staff of APSARA National Authority (ANA) have been attending the third capacity-building training course on the use of GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) machine to study underground archeology in the Angkor area.

The training course is taking place from Mar. 13 to 16 in collaboration between ANA and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) through the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation (KCHF), according to an ANA’s news release.

Mr. Hyundok Oh, an Archaeological Geophysicist at the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (NRICH), said that archaeologists often use excavation methods to study archeological sites or underground structures. Such excavations require a lot of labour, time, and money. But with the advent of modern technology, GPR machines have been used to scan for archeology underground, aiding in research, which saves time, labour, and money.

He added that the training focused on the study of both the theory and practice of using GPR machines and how to use GPR machine software to connect to computer programmes. The GPR scanner is similar to the X-RAY scanner. GPR machines need to be wired to a computer to display data for analysis, however, GPR machines are not as accurate and precise as manual excavation.

Mr. Hyundok Oh hoped that all trainees will gain both theoretical and practical knowledge in the use of GPR machines and will use this knowledge to conduct research at other archeological sites.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse