My colleagues and I—archaeologists—were then trying to rediscover the past using shovels, picks, and small trowels, gently "unearthing" millennia-old traces in each layer of soil...
Special trips
In 1983, we traveled along the Tien River (Tien Ha commune, former Tien Phuoc district). The group included archaeologists, among them Pham Quoc Quan - who later became a Doctor and Director of the Vietnam National History Museum - along with the professional staff of the Quang Nam - Da Nang Provincial Museum Department.
An excavation led by Mr. Quan yielded results that experts considered more successful than expected. The major discovery here, in addition to the burial site with ceramic coffins called jars belonging to the Sa Huynh culture, also revealed an earlier settlement site of ancient people from the Neolithic period, dating back more than 7,000 years.
Many years passed, and in 1998, after the province was separated, Giang district (now Nam Giang) wanted to relocate its center to the other side of Ben Giang. A search beneath the hills and mounds along the riverbank, at the place called Ben Giang – a trading and exchange route from centuries past known as the "Salt Road" between the Kinh people of the lowlands and the Co Tu people of the mountainous region – was deemed necessary.
The work was also carried out by archaeologists from the National History Museum: Mr. Quang Van Cay, Mr. Ngo The Phong, and other museum staff from Quang Nam . For over 15 days, we dug and searched under the hot summer sun of the midland region. Finally, we found several burial jars in the backyard of Mr. Sau's house, next to the road, and also collected agate beads and stone axes on the riverbank near the water's edge.
Further down the Thu River, just about 1km from the right bank, lies the Go Dua burial ground. This site also belongs to the Sa Huynh culture, dating back approximately 2,000 years, with a high density of burial jars. Besides burial goods and artifacts such as pottery, agate beads, and bronze objects, a new discovery is a double burial jar (two jars nested within each other).
I was fortunate enough to see artifacts from the excavation pit, which were later displayed in the Sa Huynh and Champa Culture Museum. In my personal opinion, the culture was named after the Sa Huynh swamp in Quang Ngai in 1909, the first place where the practice of burying people in jars and burial goods was discovered. Otherwise, the large-scale Go Dua site (Duy Xuyen) could have been used to name this unique ancient culture of Central Vietnam.
And also on the hilly land of Duy Xuyen called Go Cam (or Cam Mau Hoa), near the location of the Chim Bridge, where the Thu River branches off into the Ba Ren River, there are very valuable archaeological discoveries that have given rise to new ideas in understanding the history of Quang Nam province, with Duy Xuyen as its center.
This site was explored and excavated from 1999 to 2002 in collaboration with local experts and archaeologists from Hanoi, as well as British and Japanese archaeologists.
These experts are quite familiar to the local professional community, such as Mr. Nguyen Chieu, Dr. Lam My Dung, and Dr. Kim Dung; among the foreigners are Professor Ian Glover and Dr. Mariko Yamagata. They are all people who regularly participate in excavations related to the Sa Huynh culture.
An excavation area of 209m2 uncovered a burnt stilt house (wooden pillars and floor, bamboo walls plastered with earth, tiled roof) dating back to the late 1st century. However, the underlying layer belongs to the earlier Sa Huynh culture. Simultaneously, the Go Cam site also yielded numerous egg-shaped bronze vessels and arrowheads.
Based on these discoveries, along with the relics in the lower reaches of the Thu River that Hoi An had excavated many years earlier, including sites belonging to the Sa Huynh culture such as Hau Xa, An Bang, Thanh Chiem, Xuan An, etc., we now have a specialized museum of Sa Huynh culture in Hoi An.
Gold and splendor in every layer of soil
Assessments and interpretations of the pre- and early historical periods of Quang Nam province from experts both domestically and internationally give us insight into the region's past. Artifacts, whether made of terracotta, glass, stone, or bronze, speak volumes, echoing the efforts of archaeologists and local people who cherish their heritage through research, surveys, and excavations.
If you ask, "Can Dong Son culture be found in Quang Nam province?" - the author of this article would confidently say yes.
These are two bronze drums belonging to the Heger II group, which were accidentally discovered by students from the History Department of Hue University of Science during a field trip in 1985 in Axan commune, Hien district (now Tay Giang).
Most notably, there is a bronze drum with a very large drumhead, over 100cm in diameter, found in Khe Lanh Anh, Hamlet 1B, Phuoc Tra Commune, Hiep Duc District. Many burial artifacts and funerary objects such as knives, arrowheads, and axes made of bronze originate from the Dong Son culture.
A vast area stretching from the sea to the mountains, from east to west, from the southwestern mountainous region of Tra My, including sites like Tran Duong and Mau Long, and Nuoc Oa, down to Tien Lanh, has been discovered and excavated with early Sa Huynh culture. To the west and northwest, through Phuoc Son, Nam Giang, and Dong Giang districts, many similar archaeological sites have also been found.
Furthermore, the Lai Nghi site (Dien Ban commune), excavated in 2002-2004, received expert assessments stating: "It is one of four sites where gold jewelry has been found (the other sites are Dai Lan and Go Mun in Dai Loc district and Go Ma Voi in the former Duy Xuyen district). Gold jewelry is very rarely found in Sa Huynh culture sites in Vietnam..."
This is the downstream area of the Thu River, probably during the late Sa Huynh period - there were many wealthy people here, so many precious jewels were buried with them.
Quang Nam province is fertile ground for archaeology. Archaeologists have visited here at least once or many times in the past, and will certainly continue to do so…
By writing this article, I consider it a tribute to those who have passed away: the British professor Ian Glover; Dr. Nishimura; and the Vietnamese archaeologists: Mr. Trinh Can, Mr. Quang Van Cay, and Dr. Kim Dung.
And we appreciate the values and recent discoveries – such as Dr. Ha Suong, who works at the Quang Nam Museum, with her findings on the Sa Huynh culture, the Champa culture, and the project to create an information map of archaeological sites in what is now Da Nang city.
Source: https://baodanang.vn/hoi-uc-tu-nhung-buoc-chan-3301178.html
Comment (0)