The residents of Phuc Son commune, Chiem Hoa district, Tuyen Quang province often enter the Tham Vai cave in the Ban Cam village to collect bat guano for fertilizer and gunpowder. During their digging, they have uncovered animal remains and artifacts of prehistoric humans.
Recently, in early May 2008, archaeologists from the Vietnam Archaeology Institute and Tuyen Quang Provincial Museum conducted a specialized survey.
Tham Vai is a large cave located on the slope of the limestone mountain in Ban Cam village, approximately 40 meters above the foot of the mountain.
Near the cave entrance, archaeologists excavated a test pit measuring 3m2. Initial survey results indicate that the remnants of prehistoric humans were primarily found in the middle area of the cave. The cultural layer is nearly 2 meters thick and lies more than 10 cm below the cave’s surface.
The cultural layer is quite soft in texture, formed from dark brown clay in the limestone cave, mixed with river and stream mollusk shells and archaeological artifacts. The stratigraphic profile reveals that the remains consist of two directly overlapping cultural layers without any separating layer.
The lower cultural layer, which is over 1 meter thick, contains many stone tools that were chipped and shaped, including chopping and cutting tools, pointed hand hoes, and some raw materials. All of these tools were made from river pebbles using primitive chipping techniques.
The tool types in this layer display characteristics of Hoa Binh culture, such as disk-shaped tools, short axes, and oval tools. A limited number of polished axes were also discovered.
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Polished axe dating back approximately 4,000 years |
In the upper cultural layer, which is nearly 1 meter thick and belongs to the late Neolithic culture, in addition to the chipped pebble tools, polished axes were found, as well as handmade thick coarse pottery with low firing, decorated with cord patterns on the outside. This marks the first time that prehistoric humans in Tham Vai utilized pottery.
Among the cultural layers, a large quantity of animal bones and river mollusk shells such as snails, clams, turtle shells were discovered. These are remnants of the prehistoric diet left behind.
Notably, traces of burning and cutting marks on bone fragments indicate that prehistoric humans divided hunted animals into several parts and roasted them over fire.
The remaining evidence suggests that hunting and foraging played a crucial role in the food acquisition methods of prehistoric humans in this area. The presence of many raw pebbles, stone flakes, and chips indicates that tool processing occurred on-site.
Through the discovery of artifacts (such as ochre), which symbolize beauty and were used for decoration, it is evident that the people of Tham Vai knew how to beautify themselves and their community through body decoration.
Based on a comprehensive study of the artifacts and the structure of the cultural sediment layers, archaeologists believe that Tham Vai is a habitation site of multiple generations of prehistoric residents. The earliest habitation layer belongs to the late Hoa Binh culture, dating back approximately 8,000 years, while the later habitation layer belongs to the late Neolithic period, dating back around 4,000 years.
