More than 60 scientists have joined upwith their Vietnamese colleagues to tour a number of archaeologicalsites in the central province of Thanh Hoa.

During the fact-finding tour on Dec. 6 and 7, the delegation, whohad attended the 19 th congress of the Indo-Pacific PrehistoryAssociation (IPPA) in Hanoi , showed a keen interest in the Dong SonCulture in Thanh Hoa at the provincial museum.

The museum is famous for its collection of tools and bronzeartifacts such as drums that belonged to the Dong Son Culture wherehumans existed 400,000 years ago.

At Con Moong Cave, which is thought to have housed manyprehistoric people, the team of scientists saw the latest research doneon the cave.

The cave provided shelter to the people of three separate prehistoric cultures: the Son Vi, the Hoa Binh and the Bac Son.

The cave is special as its layers of rock hold evidence of humanevolution from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic era’s progress fromhunter gathers to farmers, says Nguyen Khac Su, an associate professorat the Viet Nam Archaeological Institute in Ha Noi.

Recent excavations also revealed many new discoveries, including axes, ceramics, stone and bone artifacts and tombs.

Thanh Hoa is putting together a scientific study of the cave,which will be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for recognition as a world culturalheritage.

Although hearing of Vietnam’s reports on the excavation sites ofthe Ho Dynasty’s Nam Giao altar and Con Moong Cave at the 19 th IPPAcongress, the new discoveries about Thanh Hoa’s culture wereunexpected, they said.

Su said that the tour will inform scientists of Thanh Hoa’scultural potential to help them better understand Vietnam ’sarchaeology and win their support fo꧅r these rel💃ics when they arenominated to UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritages.

The scientists will contribute their opinions on the excavation, preservation and values of these ancient relics, Su added./.