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HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM, May 4, 2005: Hundreds of ancient Oc Eo artefacts are being displayed for visitors at the capital’s National Museum of Vietnamese History. The museum has coordinated efforts with 11 southern museums to exhibit a small but representative collection of these treasures, all discovered in the last 60 years following Frenchman Louis Malleret’s 1944 excavation of Oc Eo field in the Vong The commune, An Giang Province. Oc Eo culture flourished in the southern region of present-day Viet Nam during the second and third centuries bc. The relics of this culture give an insight into the lifestyles and attitudes of local people at that time, and also provide information about the history of the ancient Southeast Asian peoples, who had links with Oc Eo culture.



The study of Oc Eo culture which Malleret’s work instigated halted during the French and American wars, restarting following reunification in 1975. Hundreds of excavations kicked off from Dong Nai to Kien Giang, resulting in the discovery of tens of thousands of valuable objects, of diverse origins and materials. The artefacts reveal the impressive technological abilities of Oc Eo’s pottery artisans. Their distinctive style is particularly evident in narrow-mouthed vases and urns with intricate floral designs carved around the spout. Also on display is a collection of gold, silver and metal currency and jewelry – evidently very popular amongst the Oc Eo people – along with statues and reliefs of Buddha and Hindu Gods such as Ganesh and Vishnu, which illustrate the ancient religious traditions of the southern region. The exhibition also explains the significance of many of the artefacts to the ancient state of Phu Nam, which was known only through Chinese texts from the era before their discovery. The country, characterized by great discipline and wealth, stretched from the Mekong Delta all the way to present-day Myanmar. The exhibition, one of several events organized to celebrate the 30th anniversary of national reunification, is open until August 15.

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