A yoni dated back thousands of years old has been found by local residents during the restoration of Dien Trang communal house in the central province of Quang Ngai.
A yoni dated back thousands of years old has been found in the central province of Quang Ngai. (Photo: baoquang ngai.vn)
The stone yoni measures 43cm in width, 53cm in height and 13cm in thickness, Thanh Nien (Youth) newspaper reported.
80-year-old Bui Ta Huu and 68-year-old Bui Huu Nhan, who led the restoration of the communal house, said they discovered stones 10cm below the soil surface.
At first, they didn’t know what the object was. They knew it was a yoni, after looking at the photos of artifacts at an excavation of But Mountain Tower. They also detected six stones at the site. Each stone measures 40cm in diameter and 18-20 cm in thickness.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Doanh, an expert in Cham culture research, said if a linga was found together with the yoni, it would be easy to identify its history.
However, he said, given the current status of the block, it is possible to determine that the yoni dated back to the 11th century.
Earlier in 2017, archaeologists found a set of stone linga and yoni, the biggest-ever in ancient Champa culture during an excavation at But Mountain Tower in Quang Ngai province.
The stone linga measures 40cm in diameter, 43cm in height, while the yoni attached below measures 168cm in length, 124cm in width and 25.5cm in thickness.
Researcher Vu Quoc Hien, former deputy director of National Museum of Vietnamese History, who led the excavation, said the object should be considered a national treasure.
The linga-yoni set is among 109 objects including baked clay, ceramic and porcelain wares dated between the 10th and 13th century unearthed at the site.
The excavation found a laterite foundation below the tower. The foundation is almost intact and rare.