Outstanding discoveries about volcanic caves of the Central Highlands

03/03/2021
On January 8, 2021, the topic "Research the value of cave heritages, propose to build an on-site conservation museum in the Central Highlands; take the example of volcanic cave in Krong No, Dak Nong province" TN17 / T06, belonging to the Central Highlands program for the 2016-2020 period, chaired by Prof. Acad. Chau Van Minh, President of Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, has been accepted by the State Council of Science.

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

The project’s leader has reported to the Council the outstanding findings, which are:
 
(1) Discovering mixed prehistoric archaeological remains (residence + factory relics + burial relics) in C6.1 Krong No cave (Dak Nong). This finding opens a way to collaborate with the Center of Geogenetics, Global Institute of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, to research the next in-depth expertise.
 
(2) Discovering many new species of creature for science and endemic volcanic caves in Krong No, Dak Nong. There is an international discovery of a new species of scorpion called Chaeriluschubluk, named after the volcano Chu B’Luk that gave birth to the Krong No volcanic cave system. This is the scorpion species first discovered in volcanic caves in the world. 
 
(3) Discovering mixed heritage: Neolithic prehistoric settlements on Ho Tre crater in Hoa Tay village, Ea Bong commune, Krong Ana district, Dak Lak province. This finding plays an important role in studying the historical continuity of the Neolithic period in the Serepok River Basin in the South Central Highlands. 
 
(4) Discovering the system of ancient Neolithic monuments along the Ba River zone, as a basis for the discovery research of ancient cultures - Old Stone culture, proposed to be called Song Ba Culture in the Central Highlands, contributing part of planning for the construction of a mixed heritage conservation museum in the provinces concerned. This discovery, recognized by top archeologists in Vietnam and the Russian Federation, is a prerequisite for building a big project "Nature and people of the Fourth century in Indochina, take example of mountainous area in Vietnam, thereby implementing research cooperation between the Vietnam Museum of Nature and the Vietnam Archeology Institute and the Novosibirsk Academy of Science, the Russian Federation.
 

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

 



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