The Vietnamese History Museum will display 700 artifacts from the ancient Dong Son culture (850-40 BC) in Hanoi starting August 25 on the 80th anniversary of the ancient civilizations discovery.

This society began in the New Stone Age, or Neolithic Age, in the middle of the first millennium B.C. and steadily developed until the end of the Iron Age, when northern invaders arrived. From the 2nd century BC on, the Dong Son culture slowly integrated foreign influences.

It spread its influence not only in the north of Vietnam but also to the Sa Huynh civilization in Central Vietnam, and to a certain extent even to the ancient culture in the south.

The exhibits were selected from numerous artifacts in the History Museum and other museums in northern Phu Tho, Ha Tay, Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces and the central Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces as well as from private collections.

These artifacts were found in three major centers of Dong Son society along three big rivers: Ca Village along the Red River, Dong Son Village along the Ma River in Thanh Hoa Province, and Vac Village along the Ca River in Phu Tho Province.

The Ca Village center was discovered in 1945 in Quoc Oai District of Ha Tay Province with typical artifacts such as axes, heart-shaped ploughshares, U-shaped hoes, and pottery.

A noteworthy artifact of this center is the 2,300 year old Chau Can tomb found in Ha Tay Province in 1977.

Dong Son Village has typical bronze goods, weapons and farming tools such as sickle-shaped axes and butterfly-shaped ploughshares.

The artifacts of Vac Village were found in 1972 in the Nghia Dan and Dien Chau Districts of Nghe An Province, such as axes, arbalests, daggers, swords with human- or animal-shaped handles, and bronze or glass jewelry.

This center also boasts unique statues of two tigers, or two intertwined snakes, biting an elephants leg and trunk. Some scholars suggest that this might stem from a certain mythological legend of the ancient Vietnamese.

Another interesting artifact is the crescent-shaped oblique blade axe which looks very similar to those found in a place in Indonesia. This has raised a supposition that there were exchanges between the two places.

(Reported by Huong Lan Translated by The Vinh)