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Canh Hung coins, historical mystery worth discovering

At the start of Canh Hung dynasty, various types of coins were minted. The materials for coining include bronze, zinc and mixed metals. In terms of coin titles (four characters on the coin), there are different ways of writing: simple, seal style, jotting, stylised characters... The coin diameters in previous periods had been just 23mm-24mm, but in Canh Hung period, they were 35mm-50mm. In terms of appearance: Previously, the coin backs had been left plain, in Canh Hung period the coin back included the year, the place of coining or a dragon image in relief. Apart from "Thong bao", "Nguyen bao", there were 14 other coin titles. After the study of the 14 titles, the author presents some problems for discussing about the relationship between the titles and the raised characters on the coin backs and the prevalence of some coin types; whether the populous development of coins in the South was a factor which forced the North to search for the way to make Canh Hung coins "prosper"?

Da But cultural values in the context of Vietnamese neolithic culture

The Da But culture is distributed in Thanh Hoa and Ninh Binh delta, existing between 7,OOO BP - 5,OOO BP and developing through 3 periods: 7,OOO BP - 6,O.OO BP; 6,OOO BP - 5,500 BP and 5,500 BP -5,OOO BP. In every development period, there are changes in settlement location, in the collections of stone tools, in economic orientation of exploration and faunal - floral domestication. Originated from the Hoa Binh culture, the Da But culture developed to Late Neolithic-Early Metal Age in the buffer zone between Hong River and Ma River deltas. The achievements from the studies of the Da But culture have been considered in the following aspects: 1. The process of exploring Ninh Binh - Thanh Hoa coastal delta; 2. The Neolithicalization process and Prehistoric cultural models; 3. The distribution of Da But cultural inhabitants and the appearance of specialized economy; 4. The tradition and innovation in cultural creation of the ancient Da But inhabitants; 5. The spiritual - religious culture; 6. The Da But culture with the horizontal plan of Late Hoa Binh culture with the problem of economic divisions.

Eco-geological analysis to identify acient channel bed of Oc Eo culture

The paper refers to the results of application of geological techniques to the studies fo identify an ancient channel bed and defense works of the Oc Eo culture in the quadrangular area Long Xuyen. The studies make it possible to identify the scale of Lung Lon channel - a main axis connecting ancient Oc Eo city to the world outside through Thai bay and to interprete the technique for digging channel of Funan inhabitants. Lung Lon channel was dug in a wet clay layer. It was located in the depth of 264cm from the present ground level. The digging seriously disordered the lining layer at the bottom. The micro-palaeontological distribution in the deposited sediment on the channel bed show that the channel was dug through to the sea (to the north of Rach Gia town nowadays), which might have intruded to the Oc Eo territory. Along with the time, the channel was gradually deposited and impossible to run through the Rach Gia bay about 14 centuries ago.

Hoa Diem site - Khanh Hoa province: viewed from Dong Nai culture

Hoa Diem site (Cam Ranh town, Khanh Hoa province) was excavated in 1999 and 2002. The excavation and study results show that Hoa Diem was a settlement and burial site. The upper burial layer, from the "depth of 1m upwards, includes such burial types as first burials, secondary burials, ceramic jar burials and artificial burials as a symbol. The accompanied funeral goods include ceramics, stone, metal, bone, mollusk grass artifacts and human bones and bones and teeth animals. The lower settlement layer is rather stable, with stone, metal, bone, mollusc grass artifacts and ceramics. Hoa Diem site is dated back from the 1st - 2nd century BC to the 2nd-3rd century AD. Its early cultural layer (the lower settlement one) is closely related to the early metal culture - the Xom Con; the late cultural layer (the upper burial one) is related to the early Champa cultural period; the Hoa Diem period is equivalent to the ancient Sa Huynh culture along the coast of the Central Vietnam.

Linga lid in Asian-Guimet Arts Museum: An invaluable data about the jewelry of ancient Cham people

A Linga lid in Guimet museum consists of two parts: A Kosa cover and a human head. Kosa's top has lost and restored with a curved thin silver piece. The lower part is cylindrical hollow shape; the bottom has large rim outside. The human head is made of gold-silver alloy, which is attached to the Kosa with four rivets. The head expresses a young face, with smiling mouth, large neatly trimmed moustache, a large-flat nose, rather slanting oval eyes, wavy eyebrows; the hair in a plait with 3 knobs. A third eye is on the front head; the crescent figure on the hair bun is a typical Siva image. The ornamental items include earrings, necklace attached with ruby. The head shows the rather qualified techniques of cutting, sharpening, grinding, filing... and rather sophisticated techniques of striking and assembling. The expressing art is both natural and stylised. As compared to other Linga lids and some stone statues found in My Son A4, statue Visnu Da Nghi... the author classified this Linga lid in Guimet Museum into the 8th century Champa art.

Paleolithic industry in Southeast Vietnam: Prehistorical phenomenon with "Pre-son vi - Son vi" and older types

This paper systematizes the Paleolithic artifacts found in Southern Vietnam and researched by French scholar E. Saurin and Vietnamese for 3 decades. They are stone Acheulian bifaces - handaxes collected from the sites of Hang Gon 6, Dau Giay 2, Cam Tiem, Binh Loc, Nui Dat, Phu Quy, Gia Tan 2 (Doc Mo) in Dong Nai province; An Loc in Binh Phuoc province and Vuon Du in Binh Dupng province. Some scholars have considered them as Palaeolithic remains. The author presents some results of the survey and test-excavation in recent years at the sites in Dong Nai province (including Hang Gon 7B, Dai An, Go Cay Cuoi), especially, the recent discoveries at Suoi Quit and Suoi Ca in 2004 and the suitable interpretation about the Palaeolithic Industries in Southeast Vietnam and beyond. There are stone core-tools such as choppers, chopping-tools, and cleavers with straight, almond tools such as bifaces and handaxes, the proto-types of Pebble cultures (galtet amenagees). With preliminary standardization in morphological study, the author found that the core-cobble and flaked tools of these sites are relatively similar to those from Hang Gon 6, Dau Giay 2, Gia Tan 2, An Loc, belonging to Palaeolithic Bifacial Acheulian and Pre-Sonvi - Sonvi Industries.

Preliminary results from research into natural compound in archaeological wood samples

The method to analyze chemical components in order to study natural compound in archaeological wood samples has been applied since 1906. In Vietnam, this method is used to study the adhesive stuff in the construction of Champa temples in 2000. The paper presents the thin-layer chromatography, the process of extracting wood layers and an attempt to identify archaeological wood through exploring chemical components with the thin-layer chromatographical approach. In comparison with the standard samples, the analyzed results enable us to identify the tree-type correspondent to the results from the archaeological studies. The study results show that it is very likely to analyze natural compound with the thin-layer chromatographical approach, with the second extracted layer, to identify archaeological wood types.

Statues Kut of Champa in Binh Thuan

In the art of Champa stone sculpture, a statue Kut was an original type, with special values in the funeral customs of Cham people in a historical period, These statues are now kept for worship in a relatively abundant quantity. From the descriptions of 31 votive statues Kut kept in 6 locations in the temples and the provincial museum of Binh Thuan, it is possible to say that they are the typical votive objects of Cham people, the objects to remember the deceased, which were closely related to the religion of worshipping tile ancestors and they were used by those who had high status on the society. These statues were made with various sizes, different shapes; the inscribed decorative motifs were rather populously presented with high level of estimation. They are considered as stone sculptured works with their own. beauty, being inherited with a lot of traditional art elements of Champa, simple in appearance but high art value, dated from the 16th-17th centuries.

Study on Dong Son drums in Vietnam

The study on Dong Son drums in Vietnam to date can be divided into 5 basic stages: Stage 1: The 19th century and before; Stage 2: The French Domination stage (1858-1954), when the Dong Son drums were studied by foreigners, mainly by the French; Stage 3: from the time Vietnam regained independence (1954) to 1974; Stage 4: Between 1975 and 1990; Stage 5: Since 1991. Prior to 1990, 150 bronze drums were found and studied in Vietnam. During 16 years, 1990-2004, the number of drums found was doubled to 300. The studies with the multi-disciplinary approach enable us to have a new perception of Dong Son drums, more accurate in terms of their dates and distributions: - The Dong Son drums in the group A have the earliest dates. About the 4th-3rd century BC. The group D lasted until the 16th century; - The centres of Dong Son drums in the Dong Son cultural areas are Thanh Hoa, Lao Cai (the centre of Dong Son drums A4). The number of Dong Son drums found outside of the Dong Son cultural areas dramatically increased during the 16 years (1990-2004). The provinces where Dong Son drums were found are Quang Tri, Thua Thien- Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa in the central Vietnam; Gia Lai. Dac Lac and Lam Dong in Tay Nguyen (3 drums) and Binh Phuoc, Ben Tre, Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Kien Giang in the Southern areas.