Outstanding discoveries about volcanic caves of the Central Highlands
Dr. La The Phuc - Project manager TN17/T06, presents the Summary Report to the State Council of Science and Technology
President Chau Van Minh assigned the topic to the Vietnam Museum of Nature, VAST, presided over by Dr. La The Phuc, project leader. During the implementation period from 8/2017 to 8/2020, the topic has followed the registration content, successfully implemented the set objectives, making an especially important contribution to the construction of Geopark Profile(Geopark) Dak Nong, contributed to the decision for UNESCO to recognize the title of Geopark for Dak Nong Geopark on 7/7/2020.The new findings of the topic suggest many further research directions in the fields of geology, geological heritages, biodiversity and cultural heritage (prehistoric archaeological relics). The topic was honored by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Vietnam Science and Technology Journalists Club, the Vietnam Journalists Association, and the leader of the topic Dr. La The Phuc was honored to be awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Chairman of Dak Nong Provincial People's Committee on November 24, 2020.
Volcano Krong No
For the first time in Vietnam, DNA has been successfully extracted from ancient animal bones, opening up a new research direction for museum conservation, and at the same time expanding international cooperation in specialized research about DNA from ancient animal bones and prehistoric human remains.
Deputy Chairman of the Tay Nguyen Program, Vice Chairman of the Acceptance Council - Dr. Nguyen Dinh Ky highly appreciated the results of the project TN17/T06 that “a team of authors is very serious, very Passionate and very professional" has been attempted.
Excavation of prehistoric human relics in C6 and C6.1 caves has obtained a large number of relics (70-80 thousand artifacts); The detailed research on anthropology, C14 dating, sediment geochemistry, cultural stratigraphy and inductance variation, and DNA determination have allowed the topic to make many highly convincing determinations about prehistoric residents in the Central Highlands 4-7 thousand years ago and ancient geography - ancient environment in volcanic caves in the Central Highlands.
Based on the geological heritage assessment criteria of the KC08.20 / 06-10 project, the TN17 / T06 project has proposed to rank volcanic caves in the Central Highlands according to the following ratings: 6 international heritage caves; 40 national level caves, 4 local level caves.These are the initial important bases for further completing the dossier to submit to the World Heritage Committee for consideration and recognition.
Regarding the research on evaluating the geological heritage outside the cave, in the developing regions of the Central Highlands basalt rock, the thesis has synthesized, additional investigated and established 10 types of geological heritage related to volcanic activities in the Central Highlands 302 cultural heritage points, of which the most valuable are the A (geological) and B (geomorphologic) types.In addition to the synthesis and additional research on biodiversity in the Central Highlands, new discoveries of mixed heritage (the heritage sites contain prehistoric relics, scattered in Gia Lai, Dak Lak and Dak Nong provinces, especially the Old Stone Age relic in the Ba River basin) is very encouraging new results and is a valuable source for the next research projects on cultural heritage, cultural and historical heritages in the Central Highlands. On the basis of new studies, the thesis has built a scientific foundation on biodiversity (related to volcanic activities) as a premise for the construction of the Geopark in the Central Highlands.
In addition to studying and assessing the current status of the geological heritages, volcanic cave heritages, researching and learning about the heritage invasive factors, as well as heritages management, exploitation, conservation and proposing solutions to protect and preserve geological heritage in the Central Highlands is extremely important. The project has built an exhibition model of the Open Air Museum, Conservation of cave ruins in Krong No (3D model) with a well-designed content and form, which is possible to transfer to the locality for practical construction planning to serve tourism in the future. Meanwhile, the thesis also modeled a number of prehistoric human activities (scale 1/1) for display in the cave. This model is being kept at the People's Committee of Dak Nong Province and the Vietnam Museum of Nature. The database of the topic is designed with an appropriate structure, meeting the requirements of data retention, updating and convenient exploitation.
The scientific results of the topic have resonated greatly, attracting the attention of managers and society; making an important contribution to the record of the Global Geopark of Dak Nong province honored by UNESCO; while creating new premises, new research directions on natural and cultural - historical heritages of the Central Highlands. The implementation of the topic is one of the models for the trend of interdisciplinary social sciences with the natural sciences, technology and engineering; international cooperation in research on important scientific issues and positively influencing the formation and development of a number of S&T fields of VAST; contribute positively to the local socio-economic development.
Prof.Dr. Truong Quang Hai - Chairman of the State Council for Science and Technology announced the conclusion of the Acceptance Committee to evaluate the project TN17/T06 with excellent results
National Advisory Council, Acceptance Assessment dated January 8, 2021 by Prof. Truong Quang Hai, Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences, National University of Hanoi as Chairman, unanimously evaluated the topic as excellent. According to Dr. Nguyen Dinh Ky, Deputy Chairman of the Tay Nguyen Program 2016-2020, the topic has made an important contribution to the sustainable development of the Central Highlands on all 5 pillars: economy, culture, society, environment and security. The project should continue to propose directions for international cooperation, as well as domestic research for the Global Geopark and carefully prepare the VAST to hand over research results to Dak Nong province serving the exploitation and management of Global Geopark in the Central Highlands. The results of the research have opened up research and management directions for the volcanic caves of the Central Highlands so that the State, international, and private enterprises contribute to building institutions and legislation in building this legacy investment.
Translated by Phuong Ha
Link to Vietnamese version