Preliminary Excavations at Ba Ngo, A Possible 10th Century CE Suburban Settlement Locale at Hoa Lu, Northern Vietnam

Abstract

Settlement archaeology has virtually untapped potential to expand our understanding of the Classic period (600-1400 CE) states and urban centers of Southeast Asia. Indeed, it is only through this mode of archaeological inquiry that we can hope to generate a nuanced understanding of the largest segment of the population, comprising a diverse collection of commoners exhibiting varying ranks, statuses, roles, and occupations. The challenge is that the residential sites and activity areas associated with these citizens are difficult to find, mainly because the domestic architecture and much of the material culture were made of perishable materials. Equally problematic is that the more visible and grandiose physical remains and textual records of royal elites and both temple and palace institutions have traditionally attracted most of the scholarly attention. That said, archaeological research in different parts of Southeast Asia has begun to focus greater efforts on the discovery, excavation, and analysis of commoner occupation sites and their associated quotidian activity areas. This discussion details the preliminary results of our settlement archaeology investigations in a waterlogged site situated in the suburban zone immediately surrounding the walled urban core of the 10^th century CE Dai Co Viet capital of Hoa Lu, Northern Vietnam.