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Co Loa: an investigation of Vietnam's ancient capital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2010

Nam C. Kim ,
Lai Van Toi  and
Trinh Hoang Hiep
Nam C. Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5240 W.H. Sewell Social Science Building, Madison, WI 53706, USA (Email: nckim2@wisc.edu)
Lai Van Toi
Affiliation:
Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, 61 Phan Chu Trinh, Hanoi, Vietnam
Trinh Hoang Hiep
Affiliation:
Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, 61 Phan Chu Trinh, Hanoi, Vietnam
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Abstract

History, legend and memory have long pointed to Co Loa, an earthwork enclosure outside Hanoi, as the seat of an indigenous power that gave identity to the people of the Bac Bo region, north Vietnam. Survey, excavation and a set of radiocarbon dates now put this site on the historical map. The main rampart of the middle circuit was built in the later centuries BC, before the coming of Han Imperial China. Nor was this rampart the first defence. The authors show the potential of archaeology for revealing the creation and development of a polity among the prosperous people of the Dongson culture.

Keywords

VietnamCo LoaIron AgeHan dynastyriceDongson drum
Type
Research articles
Information
Antiquity , Volume 84 , Issue 326 , December 2010 , pp. 1011 - 1027
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2010

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