Con Moong Cave - Site Description

Site Description

Con Moong cave lies in a limestone mountain along the Da River, and on the right bank of the Red River. It is located about 100 km from Hanoi (in a bee-line) to the south-west. Con Moong is an airy cave, about 40m above the valley level, where there was once a spring that has now dried up; about 40 km away, however, there is a big spring. The cave has two entrances that connect with one another in the form of a drum-barrel form. The archaeologists have excavated the south-western entrance, where there is in-situ evidence of an ancient culture.

The excavation site is 40m², and the average thickness of stratum is 3.5m. Con Moong Cave may be one of the archaeological sites with the thickest cultural layers in Vietnam. The archaeological site comprises 10 different soil layers. Based on the structure of soil layers and typical items, the soil layers can be classified into 3 different cultural layers:

1. Down from the surface, layers 2, 3, and 4 belong to cultural layer III, which is the most recent. In this layer they found out some cobble tools, such as a Hoa Binh-style axe with blade, or Bac Son-style and pottery. This is typical for Hoa Binh or Bac Son culture.
2. Layers 6 and 7 belong to cultural layer II. Most of the tools found here present the typical features of Hoa Binh culture. The stone tools such as cutting tool with almond form, oval form, rectangular form; scraper of plate form, short axe, bone sharpen head tool, scraper of mother of pearl. The huddled tomb with yellow soil found here is also popular in Hoa Binh excavation sites.
3. Layer 9 is cultural layer I, the earliest. The typical stone tools with usable edges were covering one quarter of the cobble; there were also some fragments of broken wine bottles. These tools are typical for Son Vi culture, proving that Hoa Binh culture comes from Son Vi culture.

Layers 5 and 8 are thin, with thickness from 10 to 25 cm, having burnt spots and inorganic material. They are the boundary line dividing the 3 cultural layers.

In all cultural layers, traces of cooking can be seen, the later ones being nearer to the cave entrance. Together with the kitchen areas are the shells of mollusc, such as Cyclophorus, Camraena, Hybocystis, Antirnelania, Lanceolaria Sf nohyriopsls, Ozynaia, and Meretrix. Some of these molluscs are in situ, others smashed, closely mixed with each other or scattered in the soil.