Stone Buddha head relief found during archaeological excavation of Lieu Coc twin towers

Lieu Coc Twin Towers in Lieu Coc Thuong village, Xuan Thap residential group, Huong Xuan ward, Huong Tra town, Thua Thien Hue province. This is a religious architectural work and an architectural and artistic relic marking a development period in the history and culture of the Vietnamese people in general and the Cham people in particular.

tim thay dau phu dieu phat bang da trong qua trinh khao co thap doi lieu coc hinh anh 1 — Archaeological excavation pit at Lieu Coc twin towers

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Lieu Coc Twin Towers have been recognized and ranked as a historical site in Vietnam and Indochina by the French. In 1994, this site was recognized as a National Architectural and Artistic Site by the Minister of Culture and Information, now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

tim thay dau phu dieu phat bang da trong qua trinh khao co thap doi lieu coc hinh anh 2 — Archaeological excavation pit at Lieu Coc twin towers, Thua Thien Hue province

The research and archaeological excavation of the Lieu Coc Twin Towers this time contributed to clearly determining the scale, structure, nature and age of the relic. The excavation process expanded and connected the excavation pits together to form a large pit, surrounding the architectural foundation of the North Tower. The entire scale, ground plan, foundation structure, tower base and the remaining part of the North Tower body were exposed. During the excavation, many types of architectural materials, architectural decorations, pieces of steles and stone reliefs, glazed ceramics, porcelain, terracotta and metal coins were collected. Notably, there is a relief-shaped statue head, made on one side from purple-gray slate, representing the head of a Buddha statue with the remaining size of 20cm, 15cm wide, 10cm thick, dating from the 11th - 12th century. Another valuable object is a round coin with a square coin hole.

tim thay dau phu dieu phat bang da trong qua trinh khao co thap doi lieu coc hinh anh 3 — Champa lime pot, dated 9th-11th century, found during archaeological excavation.

tim thay dau phu dieu phat bang da trong qua trinh khao co thap doi lieu coc hinh anh 4 — Buddha head relief, 11th-12th century found during the archaeological excavation of Lieu Coc twin towers

Through excavation results and observations of the current surface, researchers confirmed that initially only 2 main towers were identified in the relic, with no signs of a third tower. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Chat, Deputy Head of the Collection Research Department, National Museum of History said:

“In this research, we discovered stone decorations, changing the perception that we previously thought that Lieu Coc was built purely of bricks. This time, we discovered stones, discovered reliefs of Buddha statues and steles... Through that, it shows that the Lieu Coc twin towers were built in the late 9th century, the early stage of the Dong Duong style.