SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

A brick kiln discovered in the Quang Ngai province in Vietnam raises new questions about the construction methods used by the Cham. In its height, the Cham (4th - 9th century) controlled much of the coastline of Southern Vietnam and flourished by facilitating maritime trade between China and India.

Cham ethnic people’s relic found in Quang Ngai
Nhan Dan - 29 Dec 2007
8th century brick kiln discovered in Quang Ngai
Thanh Nien News - 29 Dec 2007
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Merry Christmas! This Christmas season, the Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog is giving away a hardcover copy of The Art of Champa by Jean-Francois Hubert.

How do you win? All you have to do is to leave a comment on SEAArch during the Christmas season (Dec 25 - Jan 6):

• Each comment represents one chance at the draw; you may post as many comments as you want, but comments must be related to the topic.
• Each comment must be accompanied with an email address. This will enable me to get in touch with you if you win the book. Fret not, your email will not be given to any third party.
• At the end of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll collate the commenters and draw the lucky winner. The book will be sent to the winner by post!

Easy as pie, eh? Of course, you could always just buy the book.

A short blurb about a recent conference between archaeologists from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia: archaeologists strengthen cooperation
Vietnam Net Bridge, 12 December 2007
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1 November 2007 (Thanh Nien News) - The Italian government makes a donation to help preserve the World Heritage Site of My Son.

Italy helps preserve My Son relics
By Hua Xuyen Huynh

The Italian government has agreed to provide non-refundable aid of more than $435,000 to preserve the ancient Cham tower complex in My Son, the People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province said Wednesday.

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27 October 2007 (Thanh Nien News) - The My Son Sanctuary is one if the most under-rated archaeological sites in Southeast Asia, and worth a visit to anyone touring Vietnam.

Conserving Champa
by Truong Dien Thang

The 1700-year-old Indian-inspired My Son temples have had a rough history, but thanks to recent conservation work, the site is an increasingly popular tourist stop.

In a lush green valley in central Vietnam under the imposing glare of Cat’s Tooth Mountain rests one of the most important archaeological sites of the ancient kingdom of Champa,” wrote American Matthew MacDermott in the Epoch Times last May.

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06 October 2007 (Newindpress) - If there’s such a thing as universal appeal in Southeast Asia, it’s gotta be the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. Drs M. and S. Krishnasamy write about how the influence of epic of Rama manifests itself in the countries of Southeast Asia.

A Sea view of Rama
Dr S Krishnaswamy and Dr Mohana Krishnaswamy

We are at the tail end of a fascinating journey through history, in a time machine that took us back 2500 years, and often brought us back and forth to the 21st Century. We made several trips in 2006 — first, for research and then for filming a television documentary serial titled Indian Imprints to be telecast on Doordarshan’s national network. It deals with the impact of ancient Indian culture on Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. This “episode” is devoted to Rama as perceived in SEA (‘South East Asia’, not the Sea at Palk Straight, which is making waves).

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11 September 2007 (Thanh Nien News) - Not to be confused with the citadel found in the previous post, this Cham tower in the Thua Thien-Hue province is slated for archaeological investigation from next month until the end of the year.

Studies to be done on millennium-old Vietnam tower

Excavation will begin on a 1,000-year-old Cham tower complex in central Vietnam to study its architecture and explore if more relics lie undiscovered inside.

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