Bảo tàng lịch sử Quốc gia

In the beginning of 2005, in the district Phu Truong (Ham Thuan Bac – Binh Thuan), while moving the earth to construct roads, one has discovered remains of tiles and ancient ceramics. The Museum of Binh Thuan has explored at time the place. A first study and an analysis by C¹⁴ have proved that it is the remains of an oven of ceramics and earthenware of the people of Champa of the 10, 11^th centuries. Being aware of the value of the site, the Museum of History of Vietnam and the Service of Culture and Information of Binh Thuan have asked the ministry of Culture and Information for a permission to realize immediately the excavation of the site.

The site of the oven Phu Truong is situated in a garden of fruit cactus (thanh long), near rice fields and a nearly dry little brook. After the population, before the construction of the road, the place is covered by hills near the ancient brook, among which the tallest is the Go Lon or Sanh (earthenware hill), and which are now levelled down.

Before, it is here the space of existence of the people of Champa. The site of the oven is situated below the sand cave extending along the sea-coast of Phan Thiet. At 5km northward is the archaeological site of Bau Hoe (Ba Hoe, Ba Que or Hoa Vinh) – a site lasting from the end of neolithic era to the beginning of the iron era. Near the sand cave, the excavation has discovered many signs announcing the presence of tumb-jars of the Sa Huynh culture. Now the population are all Kinh (Vietnamese), coming chiefly from Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, and installing themselves there in the 19^e, beginning of the 20^e century.

After a preliminary study, we have digged 4 pits in 4 different places, with a total area of 56m², and we have found remains of oven and products from oven.

At the first pit, we have found remains of oven. It is part of the oven floor, of a thickness of 0,4m (composed of 3 layers of different colors, the first layer is 4cm thick, and has been transformed into white grey earthware, the second layer, 4 – 6cm thick, dark brown red, very hard, the third layer, 16 – 18cm thick, with color passing from clear red to earth yellow). The remaining of the oven floor is of dimension 3,8m×4,4m. The floor is in natural earth, with the surface nearly transformed to earthenware by the heat, of white grey and red brown color. The remains are types of earthenware containers and oven walls from the end of 19^th, beginning of 20^th century.

At the pits II and III, are discovered waste products and rubbish from the oven consisting of ashes, remains of earthenware containers, having the same age as that of the first pit. They are traces proving the long duration of the activity of the oven (the great quantity of waste and the thickness of ashes attaining 0,8m).

The pit IV, sloping from west to east, consists of two layers, 0,2 to 0,4m thick, and contains materials of construction (waste of tiles), ashes and remains of earthenware containers, of a thickness of 0,15 to 0,5m, full of waste of tiles from the beginning of the 20^th century. Thus, the pit IV also contains remains of oven, but it is probably an oven for materials of construction, whereas the pits I, II and III are ovens of earthenware. Based on the types of materials, the oven is more recent, toward the beginning of the 20^th century.

The products of the oven of Phu Truong comprise chiefly earthenware utensils (cylindrical earthenware jars, low jars, bottles, mortar, vases, container lids), a great quantity of earthenware lamps, cooking pots and small bells. There are still two-piece moulds, incensers, flower-vases, spittoons, Makara nd Kala masks, statues of apes, of lions… Besides are discovered heaps of tiles sticked together and brown and purple oven walls.

Thus, the remains found in the pit I permit to conclude that the oven Phu Truong is of north-south orientation, turned toward the ancient brook to profit from natural wind. The oven floor is inclined from north to south. The oven is created by digging deeply in the natural earth and by constructing the oven walls. After the heating, the walls are overthrown, the oven floor and part of the foundations are preserved to be used for the next heating. At the site of Phu Truong there are two types of ovens: the ovens for earthenware utensils (pits I, II and III), and the ovens for tiles (pit IV) during the time from the end of the 19^th century to the beginning of the 20^th century.

By studying the vestiges, one can know the historical process of the region. The place was first the space of existence of the people of Champa (they belong to the Sa Huynh culture). The history have witnessed changes of place of residence. The inhabitants of Phu Truong of present time come all from provinces of Trung Bo (central Vietnam) toward the end of the 19^th century, beginning of the 20^th century. When the Chams changed their space of existence, the region with its propitious conditions in configuration and environment has been chosen by the new comers as their space of existence. The big hills containing the vestiges of the oven, with inexhausted water and material resources, continue to be exploited. The discovery of remains of the products of the oven and of the vestiges of the oven is quite conformable to that historical process.

Nguyen Van Doan