Con Moong Cave

From the outside, it looks like nothing more than a dark mouth in a mountain. Inside, though, a whole book tens of thousands of years long lies still, waiting to be read.

That cave is Con Moong.

It is in the Thạch Thành area of Thanh Hóa province, in the buffer zone of Cúc Phương National Park. The name Con Moong comes from the Mường language, and it means "the animal." The Mường are an ethnic group of northern Vietnam whose language is closely related to Vietnamese. People in the area say the name is tied to a block of stone near the cave mouth. Its shape calls to mind an animal crouching low, waiting for its prey. It is best heard as a vivid folk name, since no deeper linguistic research yet confirms every detail.

Seen from outside, the cave does not look very large. It is about 40 meters long, with two entrances that connect. At its widest point, the chamber reaches about 9 meters. The cave sits 147 meters above sea level, and about 32 meters above the valley below. The limestone mountain that holds it belongs to the Đồng Giao formation. Its geological age is about 240 million years. That is the age of the rock, from long before any humans existed. But the rock is not the important story.

The important story is what people did inside this cave.

In 1976, archaeologists excavated at Con Moong for the first time. Then, from 2010 to 2015, a Vietnamese and Russian archaeological team carried the work further. What they found showed something very special. Under the earth and sand of the cave floor, if anyone were allowed to dig straight down, lies a cultural deposit about 9.5 meters thick on average. It is divided into 10 distinct layers.

In other words, ten layers of history lie stacked one on another beneath the cave floor. Each is a period of its own, a gathering of stone tools, animal bones, seashells and snail shells. Each holds traces of the daily life of people who slept, ate, made tools and lived in this cave.

In layers 1 to 6, researchers found many working tools, animal bones and mollusk shells. Deeper down, in layers 7 to 10, the tools are mostly small flakes that people long ago shaped from quartz. Layer 10 holds the most flakes of all.

Researchers draw on radiocarbon analysis and on the magnetic susceptibility of the sediments. They also compare Con Moong with other sites in the region. On that basis, they estimate the earliest date for Con Moong at about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. That is not an absolutely certain figure. It is the result of many scientific methods laid one over another.

40,000 to 60,000 years. It is a stretch of time almost too long to take in.

Back then there were no cities at all. There were no nations. This cave, on a limestone hill in the mountains of Thạch Thành, was already a very ancient home for humans in the land we now call Vietnam.

What sets Con Moong apart from many other archaeological sites is how well its layers are preserved. It is among the few sites in Vietnam and Southeast Asia with layers so thick and still so intact. Each layer is a stretch of time. Ten layers are ten chapters of a story that science is still reading.

The cave does not stand alone. The protected cluster takes in Con Moong Cave and the sites around it. Among them are the caves Hang Lai and Hang Lý Chùn. There are also Hang Bố Giáo and the mountain called Núi Đầu Voi. Hang Diêm and many other places belong to the cluster as well. The whole cluster was ranked a special national monument by Decision 2367 of the Prime Minister, signed on December 23, 2015.

The people who lived in this cave tens of thousands of years ago left no names. No writing records who they were. But they left tools, bones and shells. Through those small things, scientists today can tell the story of a long human adaptation. It runs from the time of hunting and gathering to the first steps of farming and raising animals.

Con Moong Cave is proof that the land of Thanh Hóa was home to people long before any dynasty appeared. This small, dark cave holds 10 layers of earth, nearly 10 meters deep. Through them, it tells that story to anyone patient enough to listen.