Old Cham Walls Found Under Tower

Two ancient walls were recently excavated underneath the Cham Po Dam Tower complex in the central province of Binh Thuan's Tuy Phong District, Vietnam.

The walls were discovered by local workers reinforcing the foundation of the tower.

Located on the east side of the complex, the 190cm-high and 65cm-thick walls are spaced 2.5m apart. Many neat layers of bricks were also found between the walls, allegedly the remains of a staircase to a collapsed tower.

Nguyen Xuan Ly, director of the Binh Thuan Museum, said the walls dated back to the late 8th century – the same time as the Po Dam Tower.

"The walls also have the same building style and mysterious mortar as the Po Dam Tower has," Ly said.

A group of scientists from the Viet Nam Institute of Archaeology is conducting field work at the site.

"The discovery of the walls brings archaeologists new knowledge about the Po Dam tower as well as about ancient Cham architecture in general," he said.

Po Dam is the oldest of the Cham towers in the central region.