NINH BÌNH — Archaeologists have discovered four places with traces of ancient brick tombs at a local school in the northern province of Ninh Bình, according to local authorities.

A tomb unearthed in Gia Thuỷ Primary School in Ninh Bình. VNA/VNS Photo Thùy Dung

Đinh Văn Đức, deputy chairman of Xuân Thuỷ Commune’s People’s Committee in Nho Quan District, confirmed the traces found at Gia Thuỷ Primary School.

He said a tomb has been excavated while three others will be unearthed in mid-July when pupils go on summer holiday.

Earlier this year, when construction work was started in the school, workers unearthed a brick construction, which was thought to be an ancient tomb.

The Local Culture and Sports Department then issued a decision to conduct an urgent excavation. Experts from the provincial museum and the Việt Nam Archaeology Institute and Historical Science Institute worked at the site and discovered three more places in the area with traces of brick tombs.

The excavation revealed the whole structure of the first rectangular tomb. It has a curved roof and is located in a north-south direction with a total length of 7.4m and width of 2.15m. The wall of the tomb is 0.58m thick.

Various objects found buried in the tomb including bronze items, baked clay plates, ceramic ware, a bronze mirror and beads of gold and gems.

The bronze mirror was decorated with three animals like that in Chinese culture, together with a bird like Chim Lạc carved on Đông Sơn drum of Vietnamese culture.

Nguyễn Xuân Khang, director of Ninh Bình Museum, said experts assumed that the tomb was built in the third century BC.

The tombs provide evidences of a residential area in the region of early Vietnamese people.

Data from the tombs will be then used for further research on brick tombs in the province and around the country.

The experts suggested to move the tombs to the museum for exhibition. — VNS