New traces of the Bach Dang battle discovered

Wooden stakes, human bones, and glazed ceramics... newly discovered in the Bach Dang battlefield (Quang Ninh) contribute to explaining the strategy, preparation process, scale, and developments of the Tran Dynasty's naval battle against the Yuan-Mongol in 1288.

Last summer, a number of archaeological teams excavated and explored the Bach Dang relic site (Yen Giang ward, Quang Yen commune, Quang Ninh). Here, they discovered many important traces and artifacts related to the third naval battle against the Yuan-Mongol invaders (in 1288) of the Tran Dynasty kings and their subjects.

The delegation of the Institute of Archaeology led by Dr. Le Thi Lien, when excavating over a large area of ​​75 hectares in Yen Giang field, discovered a cylindrical wooden stake with a fairly large diameter (27-28 cm), 1.2 m high, the base was chiseled into many small cuts, embedded in the brown mud layer, touching the sand layer at the bottom of the river.

The rare presence of this wooden stake, according to Dr. Lien, has once again reinforced previous conclusions about the scale of the stake field and the way the Tran Dynasty soldiers and civilians drove the stakes. "Detailed research on the stratigraphy and distribution range of the relics contributes significantly to the interpretation of the strategy, preparation process, scale and developments of the battle in 1288," Ms. Lien said.

Wooden stakes found at Yen Giang stake field show the scale of the stake field and the way the Tran Dynasty soldiers and people drove the stakes.

The excavation team led by Dr. Nguyen Viet (Southeast Asia Prehistory Center) discovered a 5cm long section of bone with jagged fracture marks at one end and a diagonal chop mark at the other. After biological comparison and study of the cut, archaeologists concluded that this was a section of the left forearm bone of a human, the part close to the shoulder blade.

"There is no reason to assume that these are traces related to human injuries in the Bach Dang battle in 1288," said Dr. Nguyen Viet. According to him, Vietnam's history has seen many wars of national defense, many of which involved tens of thousands of soldiers, civilians and soldiers from both sides, such as Bach Dang, Song Cau, Chi Lang... Usually, near residential areas, weapons and corpses are collected after each battle. The remnants of battles remaining over time are very few, but not nonexistent.

During several excavations at the Bach Dang stake field, five other remains were discovered. After being studied and radiocarbon dated, these human bones were believed to be more or less related to the 1288 battle.

A human bone with a chop mark was recently excavated in the Bach Dang stake area. This artifact has been temporarily handed over for preservation to the Bach Dang Museum, under the Cultural Information and Sports Center of Quang Yen Town (Quang Ninh).

Another working group of officials from the Institute of Archaeology, while excavating at the Yen Giang stake field (May 2014), discovered many ceramic objects dating from the Dai La period (10th century) to Mong Cai (20th century), but most of them were from the Tran period (13th-14th century).

The new archaeological discoveries were assessed by experts present at the 49th Archaeological Announcement Conference (held at the end of September) as important, outlining more clearly the naval battles of the Vietnamese people when the Northern invaders poured down by sea, further consolidating the data on the 1288 naval battle against the third Yuan-Mongol army of the Tran Dynasty kings and his subjects.

According to Vnexpress