Abstract This paper takes a look at Angkor, said to be the largest religious monument in the world. According to the paper, Angkor is located in Cambodia, a land beset by typhoons and rain, heat, huge rivers and deltas, mountains and jungles. The paper reviews the history of the area and the monument.
From the Paper "Unfortunately, there were significant problems that the architects were not able to overcome when designing the great pyramids of Angkor Wat and Bayon. Sandstone may fit together very well, but vertical joints, running on top of one another, makes a wall very unstable. A whole wall would fall down if one stone near the base became dislodged. Since no mortar was used, weight and gravity were the only things holding the walls together. They never were able to create an arch, as the Europeans learned to do, nor use cement or mortar. Instead, they used the corbelled arch, where large stones were piled on top of one another, leaning toward the center, until they touched at the top. These walls and arches were not as stable as a true arch and often collapsed after Angkor was abandoned."
