Rock Art at Cua Chua Mountain, Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam

PHAM Thanh Son* and NGUYEN Xuan Trung

Discovered in 2011, Cửa Chùa rockshelter in Ninh Bình Province, northern Vietnam, represents the first reported site in the country to contain painted rock art. This discovery provides the earliest evidence of red-painted imagery in a cave/rockshelter context dating to the Historical period in Vietnam. Cửa Chùa is a large rockshelter, measuring approximately 40 m in length, and is located about 100 m northwest of a Hoabinhian site attributed to the Early Holocene. More than 30 motifs have been identified on the shelter wall, including anthropomorphic figures, Chinese characters, and scenes depicting daily life and activities associated with an agricultural economy. The human figures are rendered in a variety of postures and sizes. These paintings exhibit features that differ from other rock art traditions in Southeast Asia. In this paper, we present the rock art at Cửa Chùa and offer preliminary comparisons with other sites in the region. The composition and motifs suggest that they were likely produced within a literate society. Furthermore, the anthropomorphic figures, in combination with the presence of certain types of weapons, may provide insights into penal practices or could be associated with wrestling activities documented in northern Vietnam between approximately the 9th and 11th centuries.