Hierarchies of value at Angkor Wat

Abstract

The recent explosion of theft in sculpture from Angkor era temples in Cambodia raises questions about the circumstances that make such destructive acts possible at these historically sacred Khmer sites. This paper looks at the commodification of and traffic in temple sculpture in relation to a particular way of classifying and evaluating the temples. It considers different systems of classification and theories of value that have converged on the temples at different moments in history, and the politics behind the ascendance of particular value systems. It uses Arjun Appadurai's concept of a ‘regime of value’ to illuminate the intersection of many different value systems at the temples today, and to shed light on the contradictory mix of conservation and exploitation, scholarship and commerce, preservation and development, which co‐exist at these now‐international heritage sites.

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