VNU-USSH scientists participate in excavating many valuable relics and artifacts at Man Bac (Ninh Binh)

Man Bac archaeological site

Attending the conference were Prof. Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan - Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities; Ms. Dinh Thi My Hanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ninh Binh province; Mr. Nguyen Cao Tan - Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism of Ninh Binh province; Mr. Le Quoc Vu - Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tong Trung Tin - President of the Vietnam Archaeological Association; Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc - Vice President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association; Mr. Truong Dinh Tuong - President of the Ninh Binh Historical Science Association and many researchers and managers from research agencies such as the Institute of Archaeology, the National Museum of History, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, etc.
The delegates visited the excavation pit, listened to the representative of the excavation team introduce the excavation process, excavation methods, and objectives of this excavation. In particular, the scientists exchanged and discussed a lot about the stratigraphy and the remarkable relics and artifacts discovered in this excavation. After two months of excavation, from April 22 to June 24, the excavation team basically completed the excavation and processing work at the site.          

The Man Bac archaeological site in Bach Lien village, Yen Thanh commune (Yen Mo district, Ninh Binh province) was discovered in 1998, excavated for the first time in 1999 and then excavated many times in 2001, 2004 - 2005, 2005, 2007 by scientists from the Institute of Archaeology with the participation of international experts from Australia, Japan... These excavations determined that the Man Bac site is one of the important archaeological sites for the understanding of the late Neolithic period - early Bronze Age in Vietnam through 105 burials with 107 individuals and a rich and unique system of artifacts.
Following those results, the 2025 excavation was conducted on an area of ​​196m2 with the aim of determining the residential nature and the correlation between the residential area and the burial area. At the same time, it revealed and preserved cultural layers through multidimensional stratigraphic recording methods (profile and plan), creating a database for interdisciplinary research and conservation work to promote heritage values ​​according to the project to Preserve and promote the value of Man Bac archaeological relics and Bo Bat pottery craft (Yen Thanh commune, Yen Mo district) issued by the People's Committee of Ninh Binh province in 2023.
The excavation pit in 2025 has a 1.7-1.9m thick cultural layer consisting of three cultural layers with two continuous development stages. In the cultural layer, two burials with remains were discovered, one trace suspected to be a child burial without remains. And important traces such as: kitchen traces and large accumulations of kitchen waste, black soil pits and column pits. The traces of habitation in the stages are uneven throughout the excavation pit, the northern area is concentrated with a higher density than the southern area.

Pottery pounding table of the Man Bac people Patterned pottery

Regarding animal and mollusk remains, preliminary analysis identified 12 species of mollusks belonging to the bivalve and gastropod groups. Some other species are still being studied and identified. The collection of vertebrate bones is mainly fish bones, including large fish such as whales and rays, in addition to bones of terrestrial animals such as pigs, deer, monkeys, reptiles, etc. This shows the adaptation and exploitation of diverse natural resources of the Man Bac residents.

The relics obtained are diverse in type and abundant in quantity with materials such as stone, pottery, bone, mollusk shell. Notable among them are fragments that may be fragments of dental plaque; Relics made from scallop shells that may be a type of “bich”; a rich collection of tools, weapons, jewelry made from mollusk shells, bones and ceramics with beautiful decorative patterns.
Through the excavation results, it can be seen that Man Bac is a residential - burial relic, including 2 early - late development stages. The relative age belongs to the late Neolithic - early Bronze Age, about 3,500-4,000 years ago. With a complex of diverse relics and artifacts, it reflects a rich material and spiritual life, the process of adapting to natural exploitation and multi-dimensional cultural relationships.
The conference listened to the opinions and discussions of delegates and scientists. All opinions highly appreciated the value of Man Bac relic, and at the same time suggested and proposed plans to protect, research and promote the value of Man Bac relic.   At the Conference, the Department of Culture and Sports of Ninh Binh province and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi presented the people of Bach Lien village with a mobile speaker for village activities worth 8,000,000 VND and donated 5,000,000 VND to the Bach Lien village scholarship fund.