Con Moong Cave in the central province of Thanh Hóa's Thạch Thành District. Photo toquoc.vn

THANH HÓA — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has approved a plan to restore, preserve and promote the value of the archaeological site of Con Moong Cave and other surrounding relics in the central province of Thanh Hóa's Thạch Thành District.

The plan includes all authentic evidence of the cultural evolutions of the ancient Vietnamese people on a total of 977ha of the historical site, including nearly 500ha and 478ha of protected and expanded areas, respectively.

The planning scope will cover about 776ha in the Thành Yên Commune and 201ha in Thanh Minh Commune in Thạch Thành District.

With focuses on exploiting and promoting the value of the relic for research and education as well as increasing awareness and responsibility for preserving cultural heritage, the plan aims to boost sustainable exploitation of natural resources in association with environmental protection; develop sustainable tourism contributing to poverty eradication; improve local people's lives and strengthen the local socio-economy. 

As part of the plan, projects building preservative spaces for each relic spot will be implemented to respect and ensure the originality of the cultural and historical values of the relic area.

According to the plan, the PM orders the preservative spaces should be built to represent the relic's typical characteristics as a cave closely attached to surrounding primitive forests and streams.

They should also ensure the protection of biodiversity and special forest ecosystems of the Cúc Phương National Park and the preservation of existing archaeological excavations.

Visitors are exploring Con Moong Cave. Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has approved a plan on restoring, preserving and promoting for the value of the archaeological site of the cave and other surrounding relics in the central province of Thanh Hóa's Thạch Thành District. — Photo toquoc.vn

The PM also asked the project contractors to carry out additional investigations and excavations before implementing construction activities to avoid impacts on other relic sites.

The restoration and conservation will be implemented on the relic sites including caves of Con Moong, Lai, Diêm, Lý Chù, Bố Giáo, Đầu Voi Mountain and Mộc Long Cave's rock roof.

The plan also includes spatial development following principles of natural and free-style design to promote the relics' value with new architecture ensuring harmony with the local landscape and caves.

Con Moong Cave was first excavated by Vietnamese archaeologists in 1974 and the site was recognised in 2016 as a Special National Archaeological Site by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for its historic value.

A dossier on the cave is being compiled by Vietnamese experts to seek UNESCO’s recognition as a World Culture Heritage Site.

Discovered in 1974, Con Moong Cave has been excavated many times and was determined to be the first site ever in the country containing traces of the continuous living process of ancient humans from the Paleolithic period to the Neolithic period.

This is the fourth site in the province to be recognised as a National Relic Site, following Lam Kinh Historical Site, Bà Triệu Temple and Hồ Citadel. The last was recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Con Moong (in ethnic Mường language “animal”) Cave located in Thành Trung Village, Thành Yên Commune, Thạch Thành District, is 147m above sea level.

The cave is on a karst mountain, which belongs to the Đồng Giao geological layer dating back 240 million years ago.

The cave measures some 40m in length, with two gates on both ends. Inside the cave, the ceiling at some places is 10m high.

Since its discovery in 1974, the cave has been excavated four times.

The first excavation in 1974 explored a total area of 24sq.m. The findings showed the continuous development of stone working tools of the Stone Ages in Việt Nam.

In 2008-09, the cave was excavated the second time, while the next excavations were carried out in 2010-13 and 2014. — VNS