Unique sounds: An artist plays the Phu Yen lithophone, which has been nominated as a national treasure. — Photo tuoitre.vn

PHU YEN (VNS) — The People's Committee of central Phu Yen province has asked the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism to recognise two musical instruments, the dan da (lithophone) and ken da (stone horn), as national treasures.

The artefacts, which are 2,500 years old, are stored at the Phu Yen Museum.

The lithophone, which includes eight stone slabs, was found in Tuy An District by farmer Huynh Ngoc Hong in 1990. It is a stone musical instrument with a special Vietnamese musical scale. Players use a stick to hit the stones, each of which produces a different tone.

In 1994, farmer Do Phan found a pair of stone horns in An Tho village, also in Tuy An district.

After appraising the value of the lithophone and the stone horns two years ago, Katherine Mauller Marin, head of UNESCO's Representative Office in Viet Nam, suggested that Phu Yen submit an application for UNESCO's "Memory of the World" heritage category.

Tran Quang Nhat, deputy chairman of Phu Yen People's Committee, said that, to be eligible to apply for UNESCO recognition, the artefacts must be recognised first as national treasures.

After Phu Yen applied for national recognition in August last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism asked the province to supply more information about the artefacts. — VNS