Nguyen Lan Cuong's house of bones

Graduated from a university majoring in biology, Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong went back to archeology. To date, he has studied 800 skeletons and has published articles in international journals.

At 8pm one day of the Ky Suu Tet festival, I met Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong at his home on the second floor of a popular apartment complex of Hanoi. In his big sweater, he was poring over the computer, next to the thick pile of documents about anthropology.

See bones know people

After returning from a business trip, Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong told me about the excavation of 10 ancient tombs at Cave 1 and Hang To 2 in Chieng Bang commune (Quynh Nhai, Son La).

Show me pictures of human bones, he meticulously explained how to determine which pieces of broken bones belong to the body; Such bones are signs of any disease.

Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong conducted measurements of skulls.Photo: Duc Long.

He said passionately: 'Men's skulls have a bank on the eye sockets, no sharpness, sharp jaws out, rough structure than female skulls. Bone is shifted to one side due to fracture, bone cancer . '.

Among the thousands of photos he showed me, most were photos on the construction site, skeletons and mummies. Not surprisingly, this scientist spends almost all of his time digging and studying ancient people.

He has 800 research works on skeletons. In particular, the outstanding topics are 'Human characteristics of Dong Son cultural inhabitants in Vietnam', 'The types of humanity types in Vietnam and the issue of Vietnamese origin', 'The secret behind humiliation the body of the Zen masters', and the book 'Study of human remains on the archaeological site and in the laboratory' with 100 detailed drawings of the skull bones as well as human body parts .

The love of science and art

The charm of archeology of Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong came from 1965. After graduating from Hanoi University of Biology, the new bachelor Cuong returned to work at the Archaeological Team (the precursor of the Institute of Archeology ).

Without specialized materials, and not a focused career at the time, he sought to "stick" foreign experts and study archeology on his own. Accumulating experience, he gradually became a leading expert on domestic anthropology.

He confided: "The first day of archeology was very hard. Many people say that this profession is a job of digging a grave or grave, or something interesting. Moreover, at the beginning, the tool used for archaeological work was extremely inadequate, I had to make my own bike spokes from flat spokes, or brushes from thin foam pieces. But my passion for discovery makes me forget all obstacles'.

In memory, he always remembers the excavation at Mount Nui (Thanh Hoa). In order for her children to understand the archaeological value, he brought the documentary film to show to the people and volunteered to make the film 'foot'. The warm, warm voice and humorous charm helped the people have memorable movie sessions.

Later when I had a chance to visit, the car had just come to the beginning of the village, and the children came out and asked, 'What movie, Uncle Cuong, today?' Recalling that story, he laughed happily. Then the hand raised to tap on the table, he sang a piece from the song "My doll" (the song won the second prize in the nation in a competition organized by the Vietnam Musicians Association and UNESCO). Listening to his passionate singing, I understood why my colleague called him "young and not old".

After nearly 3 hours of conversation, I asked permission to leave so that he could continue his unfinished work. Through the living room, the whole family was waiting to celebrate his 68th birthday. Family is the foundation and motivation to help me be more successful in life, 'said Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong.