Local farmers found two lithophone sets on a pepper plantation in LongSon commune in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong on May 29.
Aspokesman for the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourismsaid that one of the sets had 10 stone pieces, while the other hadseven.
The department has taken charge of the instruments for preservation and further study.
The lithophone is an ancient musical instrument made from slabs of stone. It was first discovered in Dak Lak in 1949.
Theethnic people of the Central Highlands call the stone instruments goonglu, which means "rock gongs". They are an ancient percussion instrumentfrom Vietnam and one of mankind's most primitive instruments.
Theinstrument is made of stone slabs of different sizes. The long, thickslabs sound bass notes, while the short, small, thin ones sound thehigher notes.
The ancient people from the various mountainousregions in Southern Central and Southeastern Vietnam used the availablerocks to create instruments.
Evidence of the lithophone dates back 10,000 years.
In 1956 a second set of rock gongs was discovered and brought to a New York exhibition by an American military officer.
The Cultural Space of the Gong in Tay Nguyen was recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Vietnamese archaeologists have been collecting and researching these stone instruments since 1979.
Thethird set was found in Lam Dong province in 1980. The instruments werepreserved by a Ma ethnic family for seven generations.
In theearly 1990s, 200 musical stone slabs were discovered in Dak Lak, KhanhHoa, Dong Nai, Ninh Thuan, Lam Dong, Song Be and Phu Yen. Eachinstrument set contains three to 15 pieces.
The most famous setsof stone instruments are named after the places where they werediscovered, which include Khanh Son, Bac Ai, Tuy An and Binh Da.Scientists say that the lithophone from Binh Da is about 3,000 yearsold.-VNA
Aspokesman for the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourismsaid that one of the sets had 10 stone pieces, while the other hadseven.
The department has taken charge of the instruments for preservation and further study.
The lithophone is an ancient musical instrument made from slabs of stone. It was first discovered in Dak Lak in 1949.
Theethnic people of the Central Highlands call the stone instruments goonglu, which means "rock gongs". They are an ancient percussion instrumentfrom Vietnam and one of mankind's most primitive instruments.
Theinstrument is made of stone slabs of different sizes. The long, thickslabs sound bass notes, while the short, small, thin ones sound thehigher notes.
The ancient people from the various mountainousregions in Southern Central and Southeastern Vietnam used the availablerocks to create instruments.
Evidence of the lithophone dates back 10,000 years.
In 1956 a second set of rock gongs was discovered and brought to a New York exhibition by an American military officer.
The Cultural Space of the Gong in Tay Nguyen was recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Vietnamese archaeologists have been collecting and researching these stone instruments since 1979.
Thethird set was found in Lam Dong province in 1980. The instruments werepreserved by a Ma ethnic family for seven generations.
In theearly 1990s, 200 musical stone slabs were discovered in Dak Lak, KhanhHoa, Dong Nai, Ninh Thuan, Lam Dong, Song Be and Phu Yen. Eachinstrument set contains three to 15 pieces.
The most famous setsof stone instruments are named after the places where they werediscovered, which include Khanh Son, Bac Ai, Tuy An and Binh Da.Scientists say that the lithophone from Binh Da is about 3,000 yearsold.-VNA
