VietNamNet
Bridge - Local people, authorities and archaeologists will both spiritually and
materially benefit from a “community archaeology” model, according to
participants at a recent conference in the central province of Thanh Hoa.

Thai
specialist Boonyarit Chaisuwan gave an example of the Phu Khao Thong
archaeological site, located 71km north of Bangkok, where local thieves used to
excavate antiques to sell.

“When
we reached the site, we were amazed because there were 2,000-year-old antiques
scattered all over the site,” Chaisuwan said, “The thieves just took
the gold and left the rest there.”

“We
decided to educate local people about their heritage,” he said pointing at
a photo featuring local students listening attentively to a lecturer. Beside
the students were souvenirs made by locals to sell to tourists.

“So,
from the Phu Khao Thong site, which means ‘Golden Mountain’ in English, locals
have learnt to earn money without having to dig,” he said.

“Tourists
flock to see the site, where locals can talk for hours on the archaeological
heritage and sell souvenirs. Locals understand that their livelihoods are
secure as long as the site is protected.”

According
to Nguyen Giang Hai, general secretary of the Viet Nam Archaeology Association,
community archaeology was still a fairly new concept in Viet Nam. “But
there are still reputed examples,” he said.

Pham Van
Hung from Ha Noi and Nguyen Cao Lu from the northern province of Ninh Binh are
good examples of locals who have spared no efforts in protecting local
archaeological sites.

Hung has
worked with local people to prevent looting at the Vuon Chuoi archaeological
site, where traces of Dong Son Culture (2,000BC-200AD) and even older dynasties
were discovered in 1994.

Lu became
interested in the subject after reading books on archaeology belonging to his
son, and since then, he has discovered 22 caves with traces of early human life
in Ninh Binh which he has reported to local scientists.

“Archaeological
sites in Viet Nam are often located in residential areas, so most are
discovered by chance by local people,” said Lam Thi My Dung, deputy
chairperson of the Viet Nam Archaeology Association, “We say that in Viet
Nam, locals are the eyes and ears of archaeologists.”

Lu came
to the conclusion that community archaeology should be the “people’s
archaeology”.

Archaeologist
Rasmi Shoocongdep from Thailand said that communication was the most important
thing in community archaeology.

“We
reported our finds using simple language instead of professional terms so that
locals could understand,” he said.

Vietnamese
archaeologist Le Hai Dang from the Viet Nam Archaeology Institute agreed with
his Thai colleague.

“We
should organise workshops at the excavation sites, rather than bringing
artefacts to far-away meeting halls,” he said.

Archaeologist
Nishimurra Masanari from Japan said community archaeology had been introduced
in schools in his country, where students were given various parts of a broken
jar and asked to put them back together, following the styles of certain
historical periods.

“With
minimal expense, community archaeology has been introduced in schools and
merged with subjects such as history and fine arts,” he said, “Viet
Nam can do the same.”

Im Sokrithy
from the National Conservation Centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia, insisted that
such systematic heritage protection required assistance from local authorities.

“In
order to protect Angkor Wat, authorities have helped locals relocate, and
provided them with housing and land with proper infrastructure.”

Pham Sanh
Chau, secretary general of the Viet Nam National Commission for UNESCO, said
that the methods of conducting community archaeology discussed at the
conference were similar to those recommended by UNESCO.

According
to a UNESCO convention in 2003 on protecting intangible heritage, a heritage is
only recognised by the organisation when the local community agrees and
participates in the protection process.

UNESCO
educates all levels of people on cultural, archaeological and artistic
heritage.

UNESCO
also facilitates the creation jobs for both locals and people living near the
sites.

“These
sentiments work well in Viet Nam because Vietnamese people have a high
community spirit,” he said.

Source:
VNS