Antiques, which are precious because of their rarity and age, are not that rare in Vietnam, as locals can find them, including bronze drums, cannons, pottery, porcelain, and an abundance of daily tools, under a thin layer of soil.
Mining such ancient objects is considered illegal in Vietnam.
Most of them date back hundreds of years, or even longer. Therefore they are the ‘top hits’ of antique dealers.
With the abundance of antique items left underground and in the seabed, a wave of hunting for ancient objects has risen in recent decades due to their value on the black market.
This ‘bleeding’ of antiques has continued due to a lack of strict management.
The archaeological circle in Vietnam calls it ‘evaporation.’
Equipped with metal detectors, antique hunters have traversed forests to find old, devastated towns, cemeteries, and other sites that previously hosted religious rituals to search for ancient items.
The hunters also hone in on antiques by following archaeologists.
Normally, the scientists are licensed to excavate a small area of hundreds of square meters. After noticing the appearance of archaeologists, antique hunters come and cover a much larger area with their scanning machines.
One day in 2007, an archaeological team of the Southeast Asia Prehistory Center, belonging to the Vietnam National University – Hanoi, identified and localized an area to excavate for stone tools in Dai Khoi Commune, Dong Son District, Thanh Hoa Province, located in the north-central region.
The area was identified as a factory that produced stone tools around 3,500 years ago.
The following morning, the entire area ‘zoned’ by the team was excavated by illegal antique hunters.
In 2001, another archaeological team suffered a similar fate after they ‘zoned’ a cemetery named Chau Can to excavate traditional boat-shaped tombs in Ha Tay Province, which is now part of Hanoi.
When a local subsequently witnessed illegal hunters excavating the area, he reported the case to district authorities, but received no response.
When asked why he did not report the activity to commune-level authorities, the local said the hunters had ‘bought’ them already.
Dr. Lam Thi My Dung, chairwoman of the archaeological department of the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said that antique hunters may even ‘master’ archaeological areas better than scientists.
Archaeologists recalled that they often find antiques used as kitchen tools in houses in remote areas where they are trying to excavate.
In those areas, locals who dig up bronze drums often weigh and sell them at the price of scrap iron, according to Dr. Nguyen Viet, director of the Southeast Asia Prehistory Center.
Some of the drums and other antiques were manufactured from the 11th to 13th centuries.
Local authorities have failed to protect antiques in Vietnam, Dr. Viet noted.
“We have never tried a case of stealing antiques as an example for others,” he said.
Besides northern provinces, provinces in the central region, such as Phu Yen, Dak Lak, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan, and Lam Dong, have long been ‘identified’ by illegal antique hunters as ‘mines of antiques.’
After digging just 30-50 cm into the soil, antiques appear, according to one dealer.
An official report from the cultural departments of many central provinces showed that over 60 bronze drums have been dug up in the Central Highlands, while another 38 were discovered in the central coastal region, in the past few decades.
However, antique dealers confirmed that within the past ten years, they have collected a number of bronze drums ten times higher than the reported figures.
Hundreds of bronze drums have been dug up and sold to antique dealers in this time period.
The price of a bronze drum varies, depending on its origin, age, and condition. Its value can range from tens of millions of dong (VND10 million equals US$470) to a billion dong ($47,000).
The northern and central regions of Vietnam, especially areas along the coast, were the permanent residence of ancient tribes and ethnic minority people thousands of years ago.
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Đăng ký: VietNam News
