Óc Eo ( Vietnamese) is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

in modern-day Óc Eo commune of

Thoại Sơn District Thoại Sơn is a rural district (''huyện'') of An Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. In 2019 the district had a population of 163,427. The district covers an area of 456 km². The district capital lies at Núi Sập. ...

An Giang Province An Giang is a Provinces of Vietnam, province of Vietnam. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the country's southwestern part. Geography An Giang is located in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Bassac River, Hậu Giang and Tiền R ...

of southern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Located in the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

, Óc Eo was a busy port of the kingdom of

Funan Funan (; , ; , Chữ Hán: ; ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Khmer-Mon Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''( Mandala)''—located in Mainland Southeast Asia covering ...

between the 2nd century BC and 12th century AD and it may have been the port known to the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and Romans as Cattigara. Scholars use the term Óc Eo culture to refer to the

archaeological culture An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...

of the Mekong Delta that is typified by the artifacts recovered at Óc Eo through archaeological investigation.

Archaeological site

Sites of Oc Eo Culture in Southern Vietnam

Excavation at Óc Eo began on 10 February 1942, after French archaeologists had discovered the site through the use of

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

. The first excavations were led by Louis Malleret, who identified the site as the place called Cattigara by Roman merchants in the first centuries of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. The site covers 450

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s. Óc Eo is situated within a network of ancient canals that crisscross the low flatland of the

. One of the canals connects Óc Eo to the town's seaport while another goes north-northeast to Angkor Borei. Óc Eo is longitudinally bisected by a canal, and there are four transverse canals along which pile-supported houses were perhaps ranged. Archaeological sites reflecting the

material culture Material culture is culture manifested by the Artifact (archaeology), physical objects and architecture of a society. The term is primarily used in archaeology and anthropology, but is also of interest to sociology, geography and history. The fie ...

of Óc Eo are spread throughout

southern Vietnam Southern Vietnam () is one of the three geographical regions of Vietnam, the other two being Northern and Central Vietnam. It includes 2 administrative subregions, which in turn are divided into 19 ''First Tier units'', of which 17 are provi ...

, but are most heavily concentrated in the area of the Mekong Delta to the south and west of

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. The most significant site, aside from Óc Eo itself, is at Tháp Muời north of the Tiền Giang River, where among other remains a

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

with a 6th-century

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

text has been discovered. Aerial photography in 1958 revealed that a

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel is a stream channel that branches off and flows a main stream channel. It is the opposite of a ''tributary'', a stream that flows another stream or river. Distributaries are a result of river bifurc ...

of the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

entered the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

during the

period in the vicinity of Ta Keo, which was then on the shore but since then become separated from the sea by some distance as a result of

siltation Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary o ...

. At that time, Ta Keo was connected by a canal with Óc Eo, allowing it access to the Gulf. The distributary of the Mekong revealed in the aerial photography was probably the ''Saenus'' mentioned in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

’s ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

'' as the western branch of the Mekong, which Ptolemy called the ''Cottiaris''. The Cattigara in Ptolemy's ''Geography'' could be derived from a Sanskrit word, either ''Kottinagara'' (Strong City) or ''Kirtinagara'' (Renowned City).

Remains

The remains found at Óc Eo include pottery, tools, jewelry, casts for making jewelry, coins, and religious statues. Among the finds are gold jewellery imitating coins from the

of the Antonine period.Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., Roman golden

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

lions from the reign of

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

, and possibly his successor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

, have been discovered at Óc Eo, which was near Chinese-controlled Jiaozhou and the region where Chinese historical texts claim the Romans first landed before venturing further into China to conduct diplomacy in 166.Gary K. Young (2001), ''Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC - AD 305'', , p. 29. Many of the remains have been collected and are on exhibition in Museum of Vietnamese History in

. Among the coins found at Óc Eo by Malleret were eight made of silver bearing the image of the

hamsa The ''hamsa'' (, referring to images of 'the five fingers of the hand'),Zenner, 1988p. 284World Institute for Advanced Phenomenological Research and Learning (Belmont, Estados Unidos), 1991p. 219Drazin, 2009p. 268 also known as the hand of Fa ...

or Vietnamese crested argus, apparently minted in Funan. In July 2023, a stone slab that is roughly the size and shape of an anvil was discovered at Óc Eo, marking the earliest known example of spice processing in Southeast Asia.

Óc Eo and Funan

Óc Eo has been regarded as belonging to the historical kingdom of

(扶南) that flourished in the Mekong Delta between the 2nd century BC and the 12th century CE. The kingdom of Funan is known to us from the works of ancient Chinese historians, especially writers of dynastic histories, who in turn drew from the testimony of Chinese diplomats and travellers, and of foreign (including Funanese) embassies to the Chinese imperial courts. Indeed, the name "Funan" itself is an artifact of the Chinese histories, and does not appear in the paleographic record of ancient Vietnam or Cambodia. From the Chinese sources, however, it can be determined that a polity called "Funan" by the Chinese was the dominant polity located in the Mekong Delta region. As a result, archeological discoveries in that region that can be dated to the period of Funan have been identified with the historical polity of Funan. The discoveries at Óc Eo and related sites are our primary source for the

of Funan. The Vietnamese archaeologist and historian Hà Văn Tấn has written that at the present stage of knowledge, it was impossible to demonstrate the existence of a Funan culture, widely spread from the Mekong Delta through the Chao Praya delta to Burma, with Óc Eo as the typical representative: the presence of similar artefacts such as jewelry and seals from sites in those areas was simply the result of trade and exchange, while each of the sites bore the signs of their own separate cultural development. He supported the view of Claude Jacques that, in view of the complete lack of any Khmer records relating to a kingdom by the name of Funan, use of this name should be abandoned in favour of the names, such as ''Aninditapura'', ''Bhavapura'', ''Shresthapura'' and ''Vyadhapura'', which are known from inscriptions to have been used at the time for cities in the region and provide a more accurate idea of the true geography of the ancient Khmer territory. Hà Văn Tấn argued that, from the late neolithic or early metal age, Óc Eo gradually emerged as an economic and cultural centre of the Mekong Delta and, with an important position on the Southeast Asian sea routes, became a meeting place for craftsmen and traders, which provided adequate conditions for urbanization, receiving foreign influences, notably from India, which in turn stimulated internal development. Funan was part of the region of Southeast Asia referred to in ancient Indian texts as Suvarnabhumi, and may have been the part to which the term was first applied. Pang Khat, «Le Bouddhisme au Cambodge», René de Berval, ''Présence du Bouddhisme,'' Paris, Gallimard, 1987, pp.535-551, pp.537, 538; Amarajiva Lochan, "India and Thailand: Early Trade Routes and Sea Ports", S.K. Maity, Upendra Thakur, A.K. Narain (eds,), ''Studies in Orientology: Essays in Memory of Prof. A.L. Basham,'' Agra, Y.K. Publishers, 1988, pp.222-235, pp.222, 229-230; Prapod Assavavirulhakarn, ''The Ascendancy of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia,'' Chieng Mai, Silkworm Books, 2010, p.55.

References

Sources

*Albert Herrmann, "Der Magnus Sinus und Cattigara nach Ptolemaeus", ''Comptes Rendus du 15me Congrès International de Géographie'', Amsterdam, 1938, Leiden, Brill, 1938, tome II, sect. IV
Géographie Historique et Histoire de la Géographie, pp. 123–8.
English translation a

*Albert Herrmann, "South-Eastern Asia on Ptolemy’s Map", ''Research and Progress: Quarterly Review of German Science,'' vol.V, no.2, March–April 1939, pp. 121–127, p. 123. *Albert Herrmann, ''Das Land der Seide und Tibet in Lichte der Antike,'' Leipzig, 1938, pp. 80, 84. *Louis Malleret, ''L’Archéologie du delta du Mékong,'' Tome Troisiéme, ''La culture du Fu-nan,'' Paris, 1962, chap.XXV, "Oc-Èo et Kattigara", pp. 421–54. *John Caverhill, "Some Attempts to ascertain the utmost Extent of the Knowledge of the Ancients in the East Indies", ''Philosophical Transactions,'' vol.57, 1767, pp. 155–174. *Adhir K. Chakravarti, "Early Sino-Indian Maritime Trade and Fu-Nan", D.C. Sircar (ed.), ''Early Indian Trade and Industry,'' Calcutta, University of Calcutta Centre of Advanced Study in Ancient Indian History and Culture, ''Lectures and Seminars,'' no. VIII-A, part I, 1972, pp. 101–117. *George Cœdès, "Fouilles en Cochinchine: Le Site de Go Oc Eo, Ancien Port du Royaume de Fou-nan", ''Artibus Asiae,'' vol.10, no.3, 1947, pp. 193–199. *George Coedès, review of Paul Wheatley, ''The Golden Khersonese'' (Kuala Lumpur, 1961), in ''T'oung Pao'' 通報, vol.49, parts 4/5, 1962, pp. 433–439. *George Coedès, "Some Problems in the Ancient History of the Hinduized States of South-East Asia", ''Journal of Southeast Asian History,'' vol.5, no.2, September 1964, pp. 1–14. *Albrecht Dihle, "Serer und Chinesen", in ''Antike und Orient: Gesammelte Aufsätze,'' Heidelberg, Carl Winter, 1984, S.209. *J.W. McCrindle, ''Ancient India as described by Ptolemy,'' London, Trubner, 1885, revised edition by Ramachandra Jain, New Delhi, Today & Tomorrow's Printers & Publishers, 1974, p. 204: *George E. Nunn, ‘The Three Maplets attributed to Bartholomew Columbus’, ''Imago Mundi,'' 9 (1952), 12–22, page 15; and Helen Wallis, ‘What Columbus Knew’, History Today, 42 (May 1992), 17–23. *Quoted in J.M. Cohen (ed.), ''The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus,'' Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1969, p. 287. *Ha Van Tan, "Oc Eo: Endogenous and Exogenous Elements", ''Viet Nam Social Sciences,'' 1-2 (7-8), 1986, pp. 91–101. *R. Stein, "Le Lin-yi 林邑, sa localisation, sa contribution à la formation de Champa et ses liens avec la Chine", ''Han-Hiue'' 漢學, Bulletin du Centre d’Études sinologiques de Pékin, vol.II, pts.1-3, 1948, pp. 115, 122–3. *R. Stein, review of Albert Herrmann, ''Das Land der Seide und Tibet im Lichte der Antike'' (Leipzig, 1938), in ''Bulletin de l’École Française d’ Extrême-Orient,'' tome XL, fasc.2, 1940, p. 459. *Paul Lévy, "Le Kattigara de Ptolémée et les Étapes d’Agastya, le Héros de l’Expansion Hindoue en Extrême-Orient", in XXIe Congrès Internationale des Orientalistes, Paris, 1948, ''Actes,'' Paris, Société Asiatique de Paris, 1949, p. 223. *Paul Demiéville, review of R. Stein, "Le Lin-yi 林邑", (''Han-Hiue'' 漢學, vol.II, pts.1-3, 1948), in ''T'oung Pao'' 通報, vol.40, livres 4/5, 1951, pp. 336–351, n.b. pp. 338, 341. *Paul Lévy, "Recent Archaeological Researches by the École Français d’Extrême Orient, French Indo-China, 1940–1945", in Kalidas Nag (ed.), ''Sir William Jones: Bicentenary of his Birth Commemoration Volume, 1746–1946'', Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1948, pp. 118–19; paraphrased in R. C. Majumdar, ''Ancient Indian colonisation in South-East Asia,'' Baroda, B.J. : Sandesara, 1963, pp. 12–13. * Pierre-Yves Manguin, "The archaeology of Fu Nan in the Mekong River Delta: the Oc Eo culture of Viet Nam ", in Nancy Tingley and Andreas Reinecke, ''Arts of ancient Viet Nam: from River Plain to Open Sea,'' Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, 2009, pp. 100–118. *Phạm Dức Mạnh, ''History of the South from the Original Advent of Civilization & Basic Material Relating to the Kingdom of Funan; Traditional Oc Eo Culture – Later Oc Eo (Research Material),'' Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City National University Faculty of Social Science & Literature, 2009. *Paul Wheatley, prefatory essay in Albert Herrmann, ''An historical atlas of China,'' Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1966, p.xxviii. * Srisakra Vallibotama and Dhida Saraya, "South-East Asia from ad 300 to 700: Oc-éo", in Sigfried J. de Laet, ''History of Humanity,'' London, New York and Paris, Routledge and Unesco, Volume III, 1996, Joachim Herrmann and Erik Zürcher (eds.), ''From the Seventh Century BC to the Seventh Century AD,'' pp. 428–29. * John N. Miksic, ''Singapore & the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800,'' Singapore, NUS Press, 2014, pp. 33–37, 45-56. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oc Eo Archaeological sites in Vietnam Ancient Vietnam Archaeological cultures of Southeast Asia Archaeological cultures in Vietnam Iron Age cultures of Asia Buildings and structures in An Giang province Archaeological cultures in Cambodia 1st-century establishments in Vietnam 7th-century disestablishments in Vietnam Townships in Vietnam Communes of An Giang province Populated places in An Giang province Funan