More architecture relics unearthed in Cha citadel

BINH DINH — The second excavation in the vestige of the Cha citadel in Nhon Loc Commune in the southern province of Binh Dinh has revealed the foundations of tower and rampart structures constructed by Cham people.

According to archeological associate professor Lai Van Toi, vice director of the Research Centre for Imperial City, two overlapping layers have been discovered in the excavated area of Ong Ty mound within the citadel. The first layer contains vestiges of root tiles and bricks while the second is the foundations of a tower.

The second excavated area, 5m from the first one, unearthed the foundation of a rectangle-shaped tower with total area of about 25 sq.m and the vestiges of the foundation of a brick wall.

The specialists have also collected ancient objects and pottery that dates back to late Sa Huynh Culture (1,000 BC – 200 AD) and early Champa Kingdom (192-1832).

The results of the second excavation will contribute to studies of the ancient city-state Vijaya and Champa Kingdom.

As noted in the relic documents, Cha Citadel, recognised as a national art-architecture relic in 2003, was the political and military centre of the city-state Vijaya and then the capital of Champa Kingdom in the late 10^th and early 11^th century.

The first excavation of the relic late last year dug out the foundation of a temple and nearly 6,700 ancient relics.

The term “Champa” refers to a collection of independent “Cham” polities that extended across the coast of what is today’s central and southern Viet Nam from approximately the 2nd century (192) through the 19th century (1832).

The kingdom was known variously as Cham Pa in Vietnamese (Chiem Thanh in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary). — VNS