An ancient tomb in the northern province of Nam Dinh is thesmallest composite tomb discovered in Vietnam so far, accordingtoNguyen Lan Cuong, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam ArchaeologyAssociation.

The outer coffin was 107cm in length,36cm in width and 40cm in height, while the inner coffin was 94.5cm inlength, 27.3cm in width and 33.4cm in height. The compound was said toconsist of lime, molasses, sand and charcoal with a piece of cloth usedto enclose the contents.

Archaeologists found askull and bones, affirming their thought that it was an exhumation tomb.Based on initial studies of the relics unearthed, Cuong supposed thatthe tomb was built around 300 years ago in the later Le dynasty(1533-1788).

This is the first time researchers haveidentified oil used to embalm the body. The archaeology crew took theoil and specimens in for research: the bones were put in an oblongearthenware container for reburial and brought to the regional cemetery,while the coffin was displayed at Nam Dinh Museum .

Five months ago, the tomb was discovered in the process ofconstructing a road in Vu Ban district's Lien Ban commune. It wasexcavated last week by the Vietnam Archaeology Association and theprovincial museum.

Meanwhile, an excavation groupfound a mummy dating back 200 years in a Cau Xeo ancient tomb in LongThanh of the southern province of Dong Nai .

The search revealed the tomb to be 8.5m in length and 4.6m in width. Acoffin with a semicircular lid was put inside a composite and woodenouter coffin. Archaeologists also discovered a mummy covered by in pieceof cloth in the coffin. The mummy was thought to be a lady living inthe Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945). /.