SESSION 23

New Researches on Archaeology and Art History in Vietnam

1Association of the Vietnamese Archaeologists

2Ho Chi Minh City History Museum

Although Vietnam’s ancient civilisations have long received the attention of scholars, there remains a huge gap in our understanding of the relationships between monuments in the landscape and the objects held in museums in Vietnam. For example, the interpretive connections between the numerous artistic masterpieces displayed in the major museums in Vietnam and their social, cultural and ideological roles in the civilisations of Đông Sơn, Sa Huỳnh and Óc Eo within the ancient kingdoms of Đại Việt, Champa, Funan, remains poorly understood. In recent years, archaeologists have unearthed clues that have made important contributions to to our understanding of artistic representations, and this has enabled us to partially reconstruct different aspects of Vietnam’s past. However, much remains largely unexplored due to the limited information still available, and a paucity of research skills. This session aims to gather public archaeologists who can provide new and novel multifaceted/multi-disciplinary approaches to interpreting ancient artefacts, such as iconographic, religious, economic and cultural relationships, and aid in developing our understanding of the relationships between the ancient states that existed in the region. We hope that the session will help construct a broader understanding of Vietnamese culture in the proto-historic period that can be integrated more successfully into trans-regional research narratives.

S23-1

The Central Highlands of Vietnam: A Trade Center in the Prehistory in Southeast Asia

Lương Thanh Sơn

S23-6

The Formation and Development of the Ancient Urban of Óc Eo: A View From the Gò Giồng Cát Site

Nguyễn Hoàng Bách Linh