The Fine Arts Department today sent archaeologists to Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary in the northeastern province of Buri Ram after villagers, foraging for mushrooms, reported seeing a sculpture hewn into a rock.
From pictures taken by the villagers, the sculpture appears to depict a female holding a tree branch above her.
Pakpoom Yupon, chief of Phanom Rung Historical Park, said the archaeologists, accompanied by local officials, visited the site on Krajiew mountain to photograph and document the sculpture, as the villagers had only taken photos from a single angle.
He also said that the group will inspect the area around the sculpture to collect raw information for analysis, such as its approximate age and the name of the female in the sculpture. “We plan to talk to local villagers to gather more details, such as when they first found the sculpture.”
He added that there is no information yet on the exact location on the mountain where the sculpture was found.
Non Din Daeng district, where the sculpture is located, is an ancient historic site in Nong Hong sanctuary near Lam Nang Rong Dam, Pakpoom said.
“A lintel, depicting Yama, the God of Death, riding a buffalo, was once smuggled from the sanctuary. It was retrieved from the Asia Art Museum in San Francisco in 2021 and returned to the site. The lintel is now displayed in an exhibition room in Phanom Rung Historical Park,” he added.
