Ceramics on Five Shipwrecks off the Coast of Viet Nam (Gốm sứ trong năm con tàu cổ ở vùng biển Việt Nam)

Actually, the underwater archaeology in Viet Nam has started only with the excavation of Hon Cau shipwreck off the coast of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau province in 1990. Up to now, five shipwrecks have been excavated off the waters of Viet Nam, namely: Hon Cau, Hon Dam, Cu Lao Cham, Ca Mau and Binh Thuan. The recovered artifacts, mainly ceramics and porcelains from Viet Nam, China and Thailand, now belong to the cultural heritage of Viet Nam and South East Asia. Ön the other hand, they are valuable materials for the study of Viet Nam's foreign trade in many centuries ago. That's why, they are needed to be examined and understood. Over many years, the National Museum of Vietnamese History have pub- lished a series of volumes, such as Bat Trang Ceramics (1995), The Handbook of Vietnamese Ceramics (1999), The Ca Mau Shipwreck (2002), Vietnamese Antiquities (2003), The Collection of Champa Sculpturc in the National Museum of Vietnamcse History (2003), The Ming Dynasty's Ceramics (2004), Vietnamcse Brown Patterned Ceramics (2005), Vietnamese Coins (2005), 2000 years of Vietnamese Ceramics (2005). In my opinion, these vol- umes are the remarkable results of the Museum, that are worthy to be appreciat- ed and encouraged. Now we have the book Ceramics on five Shipwrecks off the coast of Viet Nam published. Two authors, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Chien and Dr. Pham Quoc Quan, are among the most successful researchers of Viet Nam's archaeology. Both of them have been once assigned as the Chairmans of the Shipwreck Excavation Committees by the Viet Nam Ministry of Culture and Information (Now as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism). No wonder, they have been right in choosing the topic and experienced in handling it. With that in mind, I hope that the book will be informative and interesting to all readers, both foreign and Vietnamese. Here, I have the pleasure to recommend it to you.

Mutass kevesebbet