Cambodian women plant rice seedlings in a paddy field south of Phnom Penh. More than 1,000 Cambodians digging up ancient rice paddies in the country's east in search for gold and other artifacts have been told to stop it and go home, officials said(AFP/File/Rob Elliott)PHNOM PENH (AFP) - More than 1,000 Cambodians digging up ancient rice paddies in the country's east in search for gold and other artifacts have been told to stop it and go home, officials said.
The gold hunters include children and the elderly searching for quick riches after a newspaper reported a woman had found gold weights worth around 180 dollars, a hefty sum in a country where many live on less than a dollar a day.
People have flocked to dry paddy fields in Prey Veng province, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) east of Phnom Penh, which is believed to have been the site of the ancient Cham city of Tuo Vihear Bitmeas, officials said.
The fields covering more than two hectares (five acres) resembled a moonscape of shallow pits and trenches after being worked over by the scavengers.
"The villagers have come to the site because they heard others say they can dig for gold there," provincial governor Ung Samy told AFP after officials met to discuss the matter.
"Actually, it has nothing there and we have asked them to go back home to grow crops instead," he said.
The English-language Cambodia Daily reported Monday that Pao Seang, 67, and seven relatives had toiled with hoes and axes for almost a week before finding the gold weights.
"I prayed a lot since I started doing this. Now I am successful," Pao Seang was quoted as saying, adding she had spoken with buyers prepared to buy human teeth she had found.
Some Cambodians believe that wearing teeth as amulets can protect the wearer from harm and bring good luck. Pao Seang said a single tooth could fetch up to 2.50 dollars.
Governor Ung Samy said some people believed the site was an ancient grave or a former "killing field" of the communist Khmer Rouge, whose 1975-1979 regime saw up to two million people die of starvation, overwork or execution.
"They are destroying their own history," warned Chuch Phoeung, a culture ministry official.
"The local authority must stop them, and if they don't listen the authorities can arrest them and bring to the court," he said.
The gold hunters include children and the elderly searching for quick riches after a newspaper reported a woman had found gold weights worth around 180 dollars, a hefty sum in a country where many live on less than a dollar a day.
People have flocked to dry paddy fields in Prey Veng province, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) east of Phnom Penh, which is believed to have been the site of the ancient Cham city of Tuo Vihear Bitmeas, officials said.
The fields covering more than two hectares (five acres) resembled a moonscape of shallow pits and trenches after being worked over by the scavengers.
"The villagers have come to the site because they heard others say they can dig for gold there," provincial governor Ung Samy told AFP after officials met to discuss the matter.
"Actually, it has nothing there and we have asked them to go back home to grow crops instead," he said.
The English-language Cambodia Daily reported Monday that Pao Seang, 67, and seven relatives had toiled with hoes and axes for almost a week before finding the gold weights.
"I prayed a lot since I started doing this. Now I am successful," Pao Seang was quoted as saying, adding she had spoken with buyers prepared to buy human teeth she had found.
Some Cambodians believe that wearing teeth as amulets can protect the wearer from harm and bring good luck. Pao Seang said a single tooth could fetch up to 2.50 dollars.
Governor Ung Samy said some people believed the site was an ancient grave or a former "killing field" of the communist Khmer Rouge, whose 1975-1979 regime saw up to two million people die of starvation, overwork or execution.
"They are destroying their own history," warned Chuch Phoeung, a culture ministry official.
"The local authority must stop them, and if they don't listen the authorities can arrest them and bring to the court," he said.
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