Add traces of civilization to ancient inhabitants

Excavation results in Quang Ngai province from December 15, 2010 to February 15, 2011 show that the post-stone culture flow from the Central Highlands towards the delta to develop brightly to the pre-Sa Huynh period

In the mountainous area of ​​Quang Ngai province, there were previous surveys to discover archaeological sites. In September 2002, we announced the discovery of the new post-stone relics in Tra Phong area (Tay Tra district). The five surveying pits were all along Nieu Water Stream, with a relatively similar stratigraphic structure.

Current archaeological excavation school in the area of ​​Nuoc Trong lake, Quang Ngai province

Collect many valuable artifacts

Collection of stone tools and jewelry collected from Tra Phong includes materials such as flint, granite, pebble, shale. The typical tool type is a blade grinding blade with a shoulder, a cut surface with convex and lateral lenses. The blade grinding blade has gray sandstone material, shoulder with small hiccup, convex curved body, sharp edge of the blade. Jewelry with gray pebble earrings and shale, drilling round holes at the top part of the stone. Typical pottery is red ceramic, coarse sand, thin ceramic bone.

What we found in Tra Phong shows that this site belongs to the new post-stone period, dated about 4,000 years and has an important position in the study of the pre-Sa Huynh and Sa Huynh periods in South Central Vietnam. Many bases show that Tra Phong relics have an exchange relationship with the new post-Bien Ho (Tay Nguyen) post-stone culture through the similarity of the tool collection, which is the source to form money monuments. Sa Huynh and Sa Huynh in the plain.

In November 2002, scrap metal collectors discovered a Héger type I copper drum buried in the low mound of the western mountainous region of Quang Ngai. This proves that the bronze drum of Dong Son culture had an exchange with Sa Huynh culture.

Before archaeological excavations, we also excavated exploration areas in the construction of Nuoc Trong reservoir with a total of 220 holes, total exploration area is 1,380 m2 in the two districts of Tay Tra and Son Ha. Relics included stone tools, ceramic containers and over 1,000 raw ceramic pieces of new post-stone inhabitants over 4,000 years old. At the same time, the relics of later residents were also discovered, including: The furnace dates to the sixth century AD; relics of Champa tomb in the 12th century with artifacts of iron knives, spears, copper bowls, glazed ceramic bowls, Indo - Pacific jewelry stones .

Prehistoric residents settled along the Tang River

This archaeological excavation was conducted from December 15, 2010 to February 15, 2011, in the area of ​​construction of Nuoc Trong reservoir in Tay Tra district. Excavation sites are distributed on the strip of land lying on the banks of the Tang River.

The results have found chipping tools of old stone inhabitants about ten thousand years ago; tool for hoe shoulder, ax grinding blade, stone and ceramic of new post-stone inhabitants about 4,000 years ago. In particular, in the excavation pit, Binh Chau Tien Sa Huynh style pottery and pottery tombs were found to have items depending on iron knives, typical two-headed animal earrings of Sa Huynh culture. The ceramic layer in the cultural layer only resides relatively thick, develops continuously. This reflects the stable and long-term prehistoric inhabitants living on the two sides of the Tang River.

Archaeologists have reconstructed the original site before the people of the post-stone period came to reside. It was a boulder foundation washed away by the water of the great deluge and brought to both sides of the Tang River. In the legend of the native Kor community also mentioned this cataclysm. After the cataclysm, the new post-stone inhabitants came to live on this cobblestone and reused the chipped tools of the old stone inhabitants besides the typical stone tools of this period like Hoe shoulder, shoulder ax honed tongue, shaped buffalo teeth, stone grinding table. Material tools are usually flint, stone quart, sandstone.

An artifact is obtained through excavation.Photo: CTV

The data collected showed that the materials for making stone tools in the valley of the Tang River were very poor. Pottery of the new post-stone inhabitants includes various types of pots, pots, thin ceramic bones, red ceramic coat decorated mainly raw ropes, the second is brushed. The stone tools of the new post-stone inhabitants in the valley of the Tang River are very similar to the stone tools of the late Tay Nguyen post-stone inhabitants.

Thus, there was a flow of culture in the post-neolithic period of the Central Highlands going through the Truong Son strip towards the Central coastal plain to form the metal age of brilliant development of Sa Huynh and Sa Huynh .

P new way in burial tombs

Following the cultural class of post-stone residents is the ceramic layer of residents of Sa Huynh money. Pottery of this period has a style of Binh Chau style with broken shoulders, mouth flaring and arching its troughs of containers such as pots, pots, bowls, and conical shaped pots; thick ceramic bone mixed with clay, sand, and also crushed quartzite and laterite stones; Variety of decorative patterns, including types of rope, brushed, text, dot print; decorative arts developed with red and black-colored styles of sap with decorative patterns are projects of S-shaped, circular dots, bar lines forming bandages; Decoration points are usually the edges of the mouth, shoulders, brackets. In the period of Sa Huynh found the burial sites of burial places, some of them had a lid of a bowl. The graves often have grave stones, especially a grave that uses gravel to pave the bottom.

This is a new style rarely seen in the tombs of Sa Huynh culture. The burial tombs adjacent to each other, high and low, create a grave area reflecting the kinship concept of Sa Huynh residents. The ceramic layer residing in the cultural layer of the excavated sites is not very thick but lasts from the late post-stone period through the metal age. This reflects the cultural process of the prehistoric inhabitants here which developed very slowly, not crowded like the coastal plain.

Confirmation of Tang river valley culture area

The results of this archaeological excavation have important implications in confirming the civilized cultural area of ​​prehistoric humans in the Tang River valley, the upstream of the Tra Khuc River - one of the rivers conveying literature. chemistry of Quang Ngai province.

More importantly, the excavation results initially clarified the new post-stone cultural flow from the Central Highlands through the Truong Son strip towards the coastal plain, near-coast island to flourish into the metal age of the period. Sa Huynh and Sa Huynh money sections.

Currently, it is necessary to urgently invest in excavating 10 archaeological sites that have been discovered in the area of ​​the construction of the Nuoc Trong reservoir, bringing all precious assets under the ground in flooded area of ​​the lake bed, keeping pace with the flow prevention.