A plan is needed to preserve, restore, and promote the value of the Con Dat archaeological site.

The conference was organized by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, in collaboration with the Nghe An Department of Culture and Sports. Attendees included representatives from the Department of Culture and Sports, the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district; representatives from relevant departments and specialized units of the Department of Culture and Sports; and domestic and international archaeological experts.

The Con Dat site is located in Hamlet 4, Quynh Nghia Commune, Quynh Luu District, Nghe An Province. The Con Dat site was discovered in 1979 and first excavated in 1981 with two trenches covering an area of ​​75 square meters.²In 2020, the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of History, conducted a survey revealing a modern cemetery on the surface of the site. Excavation and survey results showed that the cultural layer of the site was approximately 7 meters thick, exhibiting characteristics of the Quynh Van culture.

The characteristics of the Con Dat archaeological site indicate its significant role in understanding the developmental stages of prehistoric Vietnamese culture in the North Central coastal region. Based on the characteristics of the artifacts and the published Carbon-14 dating, Con Dat is estimated to date back approximately 6,000-4,000 years ago.

Given its long-standing historical and cultural values, and with the approval of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the People's Committee of Nghe An province, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, in collaboration with the Nghe An Provincial Museum, conducted archaeological research on the Con Dat site with the following objectives: Excavating, collecting, and organizing the relics and artifacts of Con Dat; and evaluating the role and methods of human adaptation to the natural environment throughout history.

The excavation began in early March 2024. After more than a month and a half of work, with the participation of experts from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, the Institute of Archaeology - Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the Australian National University, the National University of the Philippines, and using modern archaeological excavation methods, at the preliminary report conference on the results of the 2024 excavation of Con Dat site, the excavation team confirmed that the two archaeological excavation pits at Con Dat site have provided much information about the site and the types of artifacts.

Based on the excavation results, the stone tool set, especially the pottery collection discovered at Con Dat, with its common feature of pointed-bottom pottery with double-sided brushed patterns, is considered to be characteristic of the Quynh Van culture.

The Quynh Van culture is considered by researchers to be one of the early pottery centers of the Neolithic period in Vietnam, following Hoa Binh, alongside other centers such as Da But and Cai Beo. The emergence and development of pottery is closely linked to the river and sea environment and the economy of the ancient people of Quynh Van, which was primarily based on the exploitation of aquatic resources. At the Con Dat site, the excavation team collected more than 1500 charcoal samples to determine their age using the C14 method; however, it is currently not possible to bring the samples for analysis to determine their age accurately.

The results of excavations and research at the Con Dat archaeological site have provided important information and material data, contributing to the resolution of several issues related to the presence of ancient people at the site, their way of life, the authentic process of occupation, and the nature, age, and scale of this site.

At the conference, experts also affirmed that Con Dat Relic is one of the rare archaeological sites in Southeast Asia that still preserves diverse cultural stratigraphy. Therefore, in order to fully identify the nature and value of the relic and to develop and implement a plan for its preservation, restoration, and promotion, the People's Committee of Nghe An province needs to assign local management agencies to continue to pay attention to and direct the work of protecting the relic, expanding the collection of documents, research, and archaeological excavations to supplement data to more clearly determine the scale, structure, and nature of the relic.

In addition, based on the results of archaeological excavations and existing information, a provincial-level dossier should be compiled to preserve the Con Dat site. Subsequently, a dossier should be prepared to propose its recognition as a national-level historical site.