Dr. Nguyen Van Viet (first, left), Director of the Centre for Southeast Asian Prehistory, and staff members of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the provincial Museum examine an engraved rock in Suoi Co valley of My Thanh commune, Lac Son district.

Mysterious "demon face” engravings on stone 

The relic complex of ancient stone engravings is located in Suoi Co valley in Ram and Chum hamlets of My Thanh commune. It consists of two relic sites – a field with stone engravings and Dong Dong Shrine. At a conference held on August 25, 2023 by the People’s Committee of Lac Son district, scientists cited surveys and researches’ results as showing that the complex is an archaeological and historical one. It is situated in a vast valley called Suoi Co, about 3km from the commune’s centre and surrounded by high hills alternated with terraced rice fields and stilt houses of Muong ethnic people. 

The local elderly said that this area used to accommodate humans in ancient times because when people came here to reside, they saw some already-formed rice terraces. 

Nguyen The Hung, head of the culture and information office of Lac Son district, noted the ancient stone engravings in Suoi Co had been discovered a long time ago by locals during their cultivation process, but no one knew what their meaning was. 

In August 2022, the provincial Museum in coordination with specialised agencies and scientists from the Institute of Archaeology and the Centre for Southeast Asian Prehistory conducted a survey during which they found two rocks with ancient engravings and another shaped like a fish and featuring nine holes. Scientists preliminary perceived that the engravings date back to the prehistoric - protohistoric periods, thousands of years ago. 

Great archaeological, historical, cultural, artistic values 

Dr. Nguyen Van Viet, Director of the Centre for Southeast Asian Prehistory, said the discovery of stone engravings in Suoi Co holds great significance to prehistory and history studies of Lac Son district, Hoa Binh province and the country as a whole, and they are even of international importance. 

These engravings were created intentionally, clearly reflecting skills of their makers and pertaining to the folk belief of ancient communities in this area. Though only two rocks with five engravings, three of which are clear and two others are not, have been found, they demonstrate a relatively consistent art style and a common topic of animal-like human faces, which are possibly faces of deities. Basing on the history of human residence in the area, scientists presume that the creators of those engravings could be inhabitants in the latter period of the Hoa Binh Civilisation. 

Archaeological evidence show that between the Phung Nguyen - Man Bac era and the Dong Son Civilisation, rice growers from the downstream Buoi River came to this place about 3,500 years ago. The engravings reflect the skillfulness of their makers. 

Among stone engravings found in Vietnam so far, the ones in Suoi Co and those in Sa Pa, Lao Cai province, share a similarity that they were created on ancient granite, but the engravings in Suoi Co show a higher level of aesthetic and technical capacity. 

Prof. Dr. Truong Quoc Binh, former Deputy Director of the Cultural Heritage Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and former Director of the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum, perceives that the engravings are highly symbolic and hold unique cultural and artistic values.