Vestiges of ancient village found on northern riverbank

A 10,000 sq.m archaeological site believed to be an ancient village dating back 3,500 years has been discovered on the bank of the Pho Day River, northern mountainous Tuyen Quang province.

Located at the elevated area of Bai Soi, the village is thought to belong to the Phung Nguyen culture (Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, 3,500-4,000 years ago), said Assoc. Prof. Trinh Nang Chung from the Viet Nam Institute of Archaeology.

Archaeologists unearthed more than 400 items, mostly fragments of pottery objects used for cooking or storing food. They also found vestiges of three stoves and two large hollows containing black earth and intentionally placed ceramic pots believed to be related to tombs.

Chung said the site is crucial to the study of the Phung Nguyen culture in Viet Nam’s northern mountainous region, which played an important role in the formation of Van Lang and Au Lac, the first states in the country’s history.