Go Thanh relic site – A living treasure of Oc Eo Civilisation

The Go Thanh site was part of the Oc Eo culture, an ancient civilisation that flourished across the southern region from the first to the eighth century.

An excavated part of the Go Thanh archaeological site (Photo: VNA)

Dong Thap (VNA) – The Go Thanh archaeological site, with its remarkable historical, cultural, and archaeological significance, is not only a treasured heritage of Dong Thap province but also a vibrant resource brimming with potential for education and sustainable tourism.

Located in Tan Thanh hamlet of Cho Gao commune (formerly Tan Thuan Binh commune of Cho Gao district, Tien Giang rovince), the Go Thanh site has been identified as part of the Oc Eo Civilisation. This was an ancient civilisation that flourished across the southern region from the first to the eighth century.

Le Ai Siem, former Director of the Tien Giang provincial Museum (now Dong Thap Museum), shared that the Tien Giang Museum and the Centre for Archaeology under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City carried out two excavation seasons and one exploratory survey at the site between 1988 and 1989.

Phan Van Hoa, 58, Party Cell Secretary of Dang Phong Duoi hamlet in Cho Gao commune, who witnessed the 1988 excavation, recalled that over 100 gold artefacts were unearthed, including leaf-shaped ornaments, oval beads, and gold pieces shaped like six-petal flowers or quadrangles engraved with elephant motifs. Other finds included six bronze objects (two rings, a small tube and trapezoid fragments), 22 stone artefacts, notably an intact Vishnu statue, and numerous terracotta items such as spouts, and coarse or fine ceramics decorated in red or brown.

Experts regard Go Thanh as a rich and diverse site, featuring multiple types of remains and artefacts representing one of Southeast Asia’s earliest civilisations. The site was listed as a national relic in 1994. Notably, the Vishnu statue was recognised as a national treasure in 2017, followed in 2021 by a collection of 18 gold leaves engraved with elephant images. These treasures are currently preserved and displayed at the Dong Thap Museum.

Nguyen Thi Khac Diep, a guide at the site, noted that Go Thanh receives around 1,000 visitors annually, including university students seeking to study its cultural and archaeological significance.

Before excavation began, the site had served as a simple football field for local residents. After heavy rains, villagers occasionally found small, thin pieces of gold (around 16 carats). Brick layers, coloured pottery fragments, broken statue pieces, and abundant pebbles were visible on the surface.

Excavations revealed that the site lies on an artificial mound of about one hectare, rising three metres above sea level. Cultural layers visible along the canal bank contained pottery shards and animal bones and teeth, indicating a variety of relic types, including habitation remains, architectural structures, and burials. The architectural remains were particularly notable, featuring several temple bases of varying scale arranged next to one another.

Archaeologists also uncovered 12 graves on the mound, each with a square shaft covered by brick or brick rubble forming a raised structure of over 100 sqm. Most shafts were filled with pebbles mixed with grey sand, topped with brick. At the bottom of each was a rectangular burial chamber built of either brick or wood, containing sand, ash and thin gold artefacts./.

VNA