A large temple in the middle of the complex (top) is decorated with one of the earliest depictions of the Hindu origin story called the Churning of the Sea of Milk (above). tropical environment has long been exacting a toll on these structures. The causeway leads past a rectangular pool half-filled with black water and through several more buildings. One of them, gopura IV, is carved with a scene of gods and demons engaged in a struggle to obtain the elixir of immortality. The carving is the earliest known depic56 tion of the Hindu creation story, the Churning of the Sea of Milk. The causeway ends at an impressive collection of structures. Two buildings flank the entryway to what is called the central sanctuary. Walls surround the sanctuary and the ruins of the main temple buildings stand in the center. Given the way the complex is situated in the landscape, visitors might well expect this last segment of the complex to offer a dramatic vista of the Cambodian plains that stretch for miles beyond. But the temple’s builders had a different experience in mind. The sanctuary’s final wall blocks the scene. Vittorio Roveda, an art historian at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, says, “It was intended that monks not be distracted by the spectacular view.” T he modern-day conflict over Preah Vihear has it roots in the early twentieth century. A treaty between the governments of France and the kingdom of Siam signed in 1904 redrew the border dividing what is now Thailand and Cambodia. French surveyors sketched a line that was supposed to follow the watershed boundary, a line that separates the river basins between the two countries. Near A soldier rests at the base of a multiheaded snake called a naga, which is believed to guard the stone causeway between the complex’s buildings. ARCHAEOLOGY • March/April 2013