Some antiques discovered at the base of an ancient banian tree in Nghe An.

The antiques comprise 25 silver-inlaid human figurines with nice patterns and some metal and stone-made family tools in a pottery jar.

A local cultural official, Lo My La, said that the age of these items has not been determined yet but they are rare antiques.

Many antique traders and collectors have asked to buy these antiques from Hai but afraid of unlucky happenings that the antiques could visit on his family and his village, he reburied them.

The local cultural agency said that they would re-excavate the antiques for research. Local residents asked to be allowed to retain the antiques for worship.

Tuong Duong district has recently unveiled many ancient paintings and maps with ancient scripts. However, local authorities don’t know how old they are and which ethnic groups the scripts come from.

Tuong Duong is a mountainous district in the central province of Nghe An, around 200km from Vinh city. Researchers say that this is an area with many remains of ancient peoples.

PV