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The Pham Huy Thong Museum in Quang Yen town (Quang Ninh) is currently preserving and exhibiting extremely precious artifacts, including many unique ancient boats serving the Vietnamese archaeology field.
Pham Huy Thong Museum – Home to unparalleled ancient boats
Currently, the Pham Huy Thong Museum showcases the wooden stakes of Ngo Quyen planted in the Bach Dang River, numerous pottery, stone items, bronze drums, the sword set from the Hung Vuong period, and a restored facial image from the Dong Son culture era...
With a not-so-large area and not an overwhelming number of artifacts, visitors can envision the lives of ancient Vietnamese people thousands of years ago by exploring the exhibition rooms and admiring the antiquities.
However, the most exceptional exhibit at
The ancient boats are the result of extensive research efforts, hindered by limited funding and the need to accurately determine the locations of these ancient boats for excavation.
The museum has previously excavated and salvaged a portion of a Dong Son period coffin boat tail. To date, the museum displays 6 boats from the Dong Son era (2400-1900 BCE), 5 boats from the Northern period (from the beginning of the Common Era to the 9th century), and 9 boats from the Dai Co Viet and Dai Viet national periods (10th-17th century).
Most of these are wooden single-hull boats, with some boats having holes on both sides for inserting wooden or bamboo planks. These boats were used by the local people for transportation and fishing, but during times of war, they would be transformed into small warships. Only a few boats have sharp-pointed prows designed specifically for combat.
The Kinh Thay River area receives water from the Luc Dau River (at the intersection of Lau Khe, Chi Linh, Hai Duong), making it a hydrologically balanced region between floods and tides, leading to the phenomenon of sedimentation of heavy objects on the riverbed. Therefore, ancient artifacts are often found in this area.
Historically, this area served as a gathering point for soldiers during the battle against the Yuan Mongols led by the Tran dynasty. In terms of culture, from the intersection of Lau Khe downstream to Binh Bridge, there are many pottery villages and kilns along the Kinh Thay River. This is why there are ceramics and metal tools and weapons found here.
At the Pham Huy Thong Museum, 6 boats are currently displayed on land, while 16 boats are submerged for preservation in a water environment. In 2017, a reconstruction of a bat-winged sailboat, a type of ancient boat used to explore the techniques and control of boats in the ancient North Vietnam waterways, was carried out.
According to Mytour
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Reference: Mytour Travel Handbook
MytourNovember 22, 2022
