Hoang An reservoir project (Ia Phin commune, Chu Prong district, Gia Lai province) was built in the early years after liberation and was repaired in 2011.
In 2022, the Provincial Museum coordinated with the Center for Archeology (Southern Institute of Social Sciences) to conduct an investigation and survey and discovered the existence of a prehistoric archaeological relic here. .
In recent days, the water level of Hoang An Lake has dropped low. Here, people going fishing discovered many types of prehistoric stone tools exposed on the surface. The location where the relics were discovered is a promontory with an area of about 3,000 square meters, with a gentle slope toward the lake bed. The coordinates are determined to be 13O49’32” North latitude-107O57’10” East longitude, with an altitude of 649m above sea level. This is the confluence of streams flowing from areas such as Bau Can, Ia Phin and the area around Ham Rong mountain.
The relics were discovered scattered or pinned into the surface, but mainly concentrated on the slopes near the edge of the lake. The landslide process has revealed many relics. As the person who discovered and informed us, Mr. Tran Trong Thuy (Chi Lang ward, Pleiku city) said: In 2022, while fishing, he also found some stone tools and ceramic jars.
The relics were collected by Mr. Tran Trong Thuy on a promontory near Hoang An reservoir when the water receded. (Photo: XT).
Conducting a survey in this area, we found on the surface many relics, mainly made of stone and ceramic , including: buffalo tooth shaped tools with an elongated shape, sloping shoulders, a flat surface and one convex curved surface (9 artifacts); swept-shouldered ax (5 artifacts); small opal shoulder axes (5 artifacts); stone ring fragment (1 artifact); grinding table fragments (5 artifacts); stripped pieces (8 artifacts), stripped slabs (6 artifacts), ceramic pieces (31 artifacts, of which, 22 pieces have no patterns and 9 pieces have engraved patterns).
In particular, here there are many pieces of pottery in the shape of pots and jars with flared mouths with thick, rough, gray ceramic cores. The decorative patterns on the ceramics are mainly carved lines and rope patterns.
Comparison of geometry, materials as well as manufacturing techniques shows that the relics found at Hoang An Lake have many similarities with previously excavated relics such as: Bien Ho, Tra Dom (City). Pleiku), village 7 (Chu Prong district), Tai Per (Chu Se district)…
Relics shaped like buffalo teeth. (Photo: Xuan Toan).
The pottery shards have prehistoric patterns. (Photo: Xuan Toan).
Pointed tool. (Photo: Xuan Toan).
It can be affirmed that Hoang An Lake is a relic site with characteristics of a common tool group in the late Neolithic era in the Central-Central Highlands region, dating back to about 3,000 years ago today.
Through the discovered relics, especially pottery shards and tools repaired for reuse, archaeologists believe that the Hoang An Lake relic has many elements of the type of relic. resident. However, this is only an initial opinion. To clarify the nature and value of the monument, further research steps are needed in a complete and systematic manner.
During the rainy season, the entire area where relics were discovered at Hoang An Lake is submerged in water, the risk of erosion and destruction of relics is increasing. Therefore, specialized agencies need to have programs to investigate, survey, excavate, and research relics to contribute to sketching the prehistoric picture of the Gia Lai region in particular and the Central Highlands in general.
