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The Construction of Angkor Wat

A hypothesis.

King Suryavarman II who built Angkor Wat reigned from 1113 to about 1150 AD, some 37 years. It was finished by his successor.
This edifice was finished within only 40 years; he must have had tremendous manpower at his disposal.

It took at least 5 years to plan and prepare the construction. The construction was to be carefully prepared, later modifications were impossible. First they made a wooden model in the scale about 1:10.

The sandstone blocks were cut at the foot of the Phnom Kulen, some 30 km northeast, and transported by ox carts. The monolithic pillars, weighing 11 tons each, were dragged over rollers of palm tree trunks. These trunks may have been brought back by returning oxcarts (There are and there were no waterways big enough to transport 11-ton-wieghts! Elephants would have raised a special logistic problem: -They want too much food.)

In the centre a pit was walled up step by step. A teakwood beam fixed inside the pit served as a crane to pull the 11 ton sandstone slabs into position. The construction started from inside outwards; at last they built the enclosure wall and the moat.

Who were the workers? Many jobs could be done by unskilled men, rice farmers or slaves. The masonry and carving was done by free handicrafts, professional workers, trained and experienced.

How many men have worked there? There were men doing the masonry, others were heaving the sandstone blocks and pillars to their place, orthers were preaparing the blocks and pillars, others did the logistics, and there were artists who did the carvings... The estimates about the total numbers are differing.

The avenue and balustrades were only finished in the Bayon era (about 1200 AD). Ref.3.