Ancient Empire's Crown Jewels Found 'in the Back of a Car'

Looted antiquities held by English collector Douglas Latchford returned to Cambodia
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2023 11:06 AM CST
Updated Feb 26, 2023 7:20 AM CST
Ancient Empire's Crown Jewels Found 'in the Back of a Car'
This photo shows a gold crown previously in the possession of the Latchford family on display in London on Feb. 14.   (Union Youth Federations of Cambodia via AP)

The Khmer Empire's crown jewels, held by a suspected antiquities smuggler but largely unknown to experts, have been returned to their homeland. The Cambodian collection, including pieces dating to the seventh century, was once kept by collector Douglas Latchford, an Englishman who spent much of his later life in Thailand, where he died in 2020 while awaiting extradition to the US. He was accused of using falsified documents to traffic stolen antiquities from Southeast Asia, and though he denied the charges, which were dismissed after his death, his family later agreed to return all Cambodian artifacts in their possession. Experts had no idea that included "crowns, necklaces, bracelets, belts, earrings and amulets" of gold and other precious metals, per the AP.

Cambodian investigators only learned of the collection made up of at least 77 pieces last year, per the BBC. Lead investigator Brad Gordon says he was "driven by a representative of the Latchford family to an undisclosed location" in London, where he found "the crown jewels of ancient Cambodian civilization packed into four boxes in the back of a car." Among the finds: a suspected 11th-century solid gold bowl used as a rice bowl by Angkorian royalty (Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire beginning around AD800) and an alleged pre-Angkorian crown dating to the seventh century. The BBC notes that "many of the items can be matched to stone carvings in the walls of Angkor Wat," a majestic 12th-century monument of the Khmer Empire, still the largest religious structure in the world.

Some items may have been taken from Angkor Wat under French colonization, but many of the items are believed to have been looted during later periods of instability, including civil war in the 1970s. Only a few of the items were described in a book by Latchford, leaving experts stunned. The reveal "proves what was on the carvings and what was rumored is really true: Cambodia was really, really rich in the past," archaeologist Sonetra Seng tells the BBC. The returned treasures are to be displayed in Cambodia's national museum. But there's more. Looters who turned government witnesses have identified items sold to Latchford that now appear in institutions including the British Museum. Officials are urging their return as well. (More treasure stories.)

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