Towards building the subject "Vietnam's marine and island archaeology"

Attending the workshop were Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Kim, Party Committee Secretary, Vice Principal of the University; Associate Professor Dr. Lam Thi My Dung, Director of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and representatives of 16 participating research units. Among them were prestigious leading research units such as the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and the Institute of Archaeology under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences.

Speaking at the ceremony, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Kim affirmed the importance of marine archaeology for the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the nation: “With the participation of representatives of 16 units with 29 reports, in an analytical and combined view, research between specialized and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. With that approach, surely the scientists in today's workshop will bring an objective and comprehensive view of the position of Vietnam's sea, the role of the sea in the development of cultures, ancient kingdoms, the process of exploitation at sea, establishing sovereignty at sea and the extremely arduous process of protecting sovereignty at sea of ​​Vietnam".

At the same time, at the conference, scientists from inside and outside the school, domestically and internationally, discussed a number of issues on the theory and methodology of marine archaeology and especially the long-term orientation for the development of the archaeology of the Faculty of History, University of Social Sciences and Humanities. In addition, the situation in the East Sea has always been a hot issue in recent times, so the subject "Vietnamese Marine Archaeology" being taught in the near future is very necessary.

Among the 29 reports presented at the conference, there were important reports affirming Vietnam's sovereignty over the islands in the East Sea, such as "Archaeological documents contributing to affirming Vietnam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa" by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc (Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences, VNU); archaeological discoveries in Truong Sa archipelago by Dr. Lai Van Toi (Center for Imperial City Studies). In fact, since 2014, China has conducted illegal archaeological excavations around Vietnam's Hoang Sa archipelago and declared its application for World Heritage status for the "East Sea Silk Road", so archaeological research documents affirming that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos belong to Vietnam are very important.

The conference will take place over two days, May 7 and 8. Today, delegates will hold a conference on reports at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Tomorrow, delegates will visit the Bach Dang stake site (Quang Ninh).