Sapa Ancient Rock Field
Sapa ancient carved rock spreads out on the territory of three communes of Ta Van, Hau Thao and Su Pan. It is located in Muong Hoa valley with an area of about 8 km2. Located on the steep winding mountain road, ancient rock carving ground is consisted of 159 small and large boulders alternating in trees, near the side of the road or in water rice paddies. They are initially not impressive at all. But when you are getting off the bus, walking along with the guide to hear the introduction by firsthand, examining the rocks, visitors can be amazed at how the artificial life long creations that there are not any satisfactory answers.
Sa Pa is not the only place that carved stones are found in the world because there are dozens of similar places but for Vietnam, this is still a miracle. It is indicating ancient human was sticking firmly on the ground, tame nature to survive and grow. If only mention about the density of rock, the rock carving ground of Ta Van deserves first rate. 159 stones under the tough weather are still impassive, clear with etched graphics; the writing in the form of primitive to advanced, and it is praised as the159 ancient stone steles in Vietnam. Having a careful look at the inscription, we can recognize the shapes such as square, rectangle, the single line features, double lines, parallel lines and cross lines, the human figures, bird’s pictures, scenes activities, etc. There are ways we can predict and explain which are the graphic, the wealth records, the weather, the concept of ancient life, etc, which means we are free to imagine.
Recently, researchers focused on understanding the living scene carved on the rocks. In particular, the sex scenes between men and women to maintain and develop the breed is described by the familiar motifs, which is close to the paintings on bronze artefacts dating back 2500-2600 years ago that were found in Vietnam. It is the express image to the custom of honoring “sinh thuc khi” (birth, food, and tools) to represent the traditional beliefs of a natural pure-minded of the ancient Vietnamese. Thus, we can estimate the age of the carvings and drawing on rock in Sa Pa is around 2500 years. Thereby, one can see the mind of the Vietnamese whish was quite developed at that time. It is strengthened the review of the scientific community that Vietnam is one of the cradles of human civilization.
How exciting is that ancient rock carving in Sa Pa was only discovered in 1923 by the Indochina’s famous French-Russia named Vichto Golubep (Victor Goloubev). After that, many Western researchers have come here to find out and introduced widely in the media. For foreign tourists, especially the French, once to Sa Pa, they often spend hours of time stayed to watch, compared with the carved stone monuments of Sereda Capivara (Brazil), at the Boyne (Ireland), Matopo (Zimbabwe) or at some points in the vast Sahara desert. For Vietnamese, visiting Sapa ancient carved ground is to have further facilitated comparison with figures carved in stone, on animal horn or metal objects, which have been found.
