The Phu Chanh site

This paper reports discoveries made at the waterlogged site complex of Phu Chanh, along the Cai River, a tributary of the Dong Nai river system in Tan Uyen District, Binh Duong Province, about 40 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (Fig. 1). The discoveries include wooden burial jars, weaving equipment and combs, four Heger I bronze drums and a Han Dynasty bronze mirror. The use of wooden burial jars, in one case with a Heger I drum serving as a cover, has not been reported before from southern Vietnam. The Phu Chanh archaeological site lies in a marshland area located along the Cai River that was formerly inundated all year round, although now provided with drainage ditches to allow market gardening. The discovery zone is a strip of land nearly 3 km long and 50 meters wide, running parallel to the river through Phu Chanh and Vinh Tan Communes (Tan Uyen District, Binh Duong Province) in a northeast to southwest direction (Fig. 2). Many of the finds in this archaeological zone have been made by farmers, who often find the stubs of old house piles just below their fields. In 1995, a farmer found a Heger I drum and the base of a wooden burial jar. In 1998, another farmer found a Heger I drum and the base of a wooden jar which contained wooden weaving equipment, pottery and a Han Dynasty bronze mirror. In 1999, a third bronze drum was found. Because of these findings, a research project was designed by the Binh Duong Provincial Department of Culture and Information and the Institute of Social Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City (now the Southern Institute of Social Sciences SISS). The research team included Bui Chi Hoang, Dao Linh Con, Nguyen Van Long, Bui Xuan Long (from SISS) and Le Van Dan and Van Thi Thuy Trang (from Binh Duong Provincial Museum). The excavations at the locality known as Phu Bung in November 2000 (Fig. 2) and a survey in 2001 yielded the data described here

Ancient history · Archaeology · Ethnology · Geography · Prehistory · Sociology · Anthropology · History · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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