The Olov Janse Collection: Material Evidence for the Han Viet Burial Tradition

Abstract

In the 1930s, the Swedish archeologist Olov Robert Thure Janse conducted excavation expeditions in Indochina. His expeditions revealed brick tombs in North Vietnam during a period when Vietnam was under the occupation of imperial China. The discoveries allowed scholars to gain new knowledge about the ceramic tradition in Vietnam and are one of the most important collections in dating the Han-Vietnamese ceramic wares. The Han-Viet ceramic wares and burial goods in particular are not well researched. To improve this situation and to encourage further research, this article will introduce some of the burial goods of the Olov Janse collection and the burial tradition in the area, which, amọng ọther things, fọllọwed the Đông Sơn culture. Furthermore, besides the burial goods of the Olov Janse collection, the article also offers a short critical reading of the historical background of the period in which the excavations were conducted, which was dominated by Eurocentrism and a colonialist approach to archaeology. The article concludes that on the whole, the abundant discoveries in the brick tombs are evidence for the influence of Chinese culture in northern Vietnam.