After their discovery, a number of tombs with mummified remains believed to be hundreds of years old have been lost or destroyed.
Mummy uncovered
Decision not to excavate
When these tombs began to be uncovered, mostly by local citizens digging around on ground clearance sites, the former director of Hai Duong Museum, archaeologist Tang Ba Hoanh, made the decision not to excavate them. Dozens of these mummies were discovered in Hai Duong and Hung Yen districts.
"We should leave this research to future generations who have the proper funding and expertise for the job," Hoanh said at the time.
After seeing these tombs being pulled up, the mummies placed into normal coffins and put back into the ground to decay, Hoanh said that any further discoveries should be left as they are.
Hai Duong Museum, which houses an enormous reconstruction of Han Tomb which dated back almost 2,000 years, is an institution that received curious visitors, but was also where students went for doctorate degrees for study of ancient tombs.
However, when the older archeologists began to retire, the tombs that had been discovered and re-earthed tombs were forgotten, the sites abandoned. Hoanh commented that their loss is his biggest regret.
Hoanh and a monk also discovered a cave that held fossil teeth of what he believed to be Pongo, an ancient ancestor to human. In this case too, he made the decision to leave it to be studied by future generations.
The mummification process used in Vietnam used essential oils and a special wood coffin that provided anaerobic conditions. The process could preserve remains for thousands of years. However, due to development and neglect, this has not been the case.
Upon discovery of the tombs, scientists requested research funding but were unsuccessful.
Farmer shows the remains of a tomb
Locals outraged
Nguyen Van Quang, a farmer, asked VTC for help in suing a company for destroying a tomb in Thuy Trang Village, Hung Yen District.
"People sue for land and property. Why can't I sue for the what this company has done to the old tomb? It is part of our national heritage," he said.
The head of village, along with the local people, are also very angry after seeing the mummy carelessly being thrown into a field. Many even threatened to vandalise the company's property and equipment. Others blamed scientists for not having come to the village before the incident occurred.
To be continue
Archeologist Hoanh at the Han Tomb
Heritage abandoned
Tomb neglected in a field
People throw trash on the site
