Experts work to have Con Moong Cave recognized by UNESCO

Experts and scientists have looked into seeking UNESCO world heritage site recognition for Con Moong Cave in Thanh Hoa province, central Vietnam.

The scientific conference on evaluating the possibility of and determining criteria for UNESCO world heritage recognition for the Con Moong Cave area at Thach Thanh district was jointly held by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Institute of Archaeology, and the Vietnam Archaeological Association (VNAA).

Participants evaluated the outstanding values of the cave and its surrounding areas based on excavation and research results from 1976 to present, and exchanging experience and criteria for a dossier to submit to UNESCO.

Associate Professor Dr. Dang Van Bai, deputy chairman of the National Cultural Heritage Council, suggested Thanh Hoa province pay more attention to consulting experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in this regard.

ICOMOS's on-site consultations and inspections are the basis for the World Heritage Committee to issue decisions related to cultural heritage. At the same time, Thanh Hoa province needs to build a good scientific dossier to submit to UNESCO to recognise Con Moong Cave as a World Heritage Site.

In his closing remarks, VNAA chairman Assoc. Prof. Tong Trung Tin said participants shared the view that the cave can satisfy selection criteria regarding cultural tradition, traditional human settlement and natural habitat.

Tin also said that Thanh Hoa province needs to establish a provincial committee to lead and direct relevant units to coordinate with the central Government to develop the heritage area documents and dossier.

Con Moong Cave, first excavated by Vietnamese archaeologists in 1974, is located inside the Cuc Phuong National Park in Thanh Yen commune, Thach Thanh district, Thanh Hoa province.

Con Moong, which means “animal” in the Muong ethnic minority language, is 147 meters above the sea level and belongs to the Dong Giao geological layer dating back 240 million years.

It measures some 40 meters in length, with openings on both ends. Inside the cave, the ceiling at some places is 10 meters high.

From 2010 to 2014, Con Moong Cave and the surrounding areas were systematically excavated and researched within the framework of a cooperative project between the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Novosibirsk Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa province.

The heritage area of Con Moong Cave includes dozens of caves and stones distributed in a space of more than 20,000 hectares of the Cuc Phuong National Park in Thach Thanh district and some areas in Hoa Binh and Ninh Binh provinces.

The cave has been excavated many times and determined to be the oldest site in the country containing traces of ancient humans from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic period, from about 60,000 years to 7,000 BC.

The cave is where the ancient Vietnamese people settled, whose three cultures are Son Vi, Hoa Binh and Bac Son. Evidence found here from traditional human settlements indicates they hunted animals, gathered fruits and farmed.

In 2020, the Prime Minister approved a plan to preserve, restore and promote the value of the archaeological relics of Con Moong Cave and surrounding areas with a total area of 977,568 hectares. The cave was recognised as a Special National Archaeological Site by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2015.