4,000-year-old relics spur new look at Sa Huynh culture

Archaeologists in the central province of Quang Ngai have found relics dating back some 4,000 years, encouraging scientists to study afresh one of Vietnam’s most prominent cultures.
Dr. Doan Ngoc Khoi from Quang Ngai General Museum said the recently-completed excavation by the museum in cooperation with Vietnam Institute of Archaeology at an area near the Nuoc Trong Reservoir in the mountainous district of Son Ha had unearthed several ancient artifacts.
Apart from stone axes and pestles, pottery made by the Kinh people who make up the majority of Vietnamese population, under the Ly, Tran and Le dynasties were also discovered.
Together with traces of Quang Ngai native cultures of the Kor and Hre people, the new findings show that trade and exchange between the Kinh and the province’s natives started very early, Khoi said.
The recent discoveries will motivate scientists to look again at the origins of the central region’s Sa Huynh Culture which may have begun in the Central Highlands, the archaeologist said.