Three foundations of a Cham tower complex have been unearthed four weeksago by a team of archaeologists in Qua Giang village, Hoa Vangdistrict, Da Nang city.

The tower is the second largestexcavated in the central city since another was unveiled in Phong Levillage two years ago. It was built to honour the Champa King betweenthe fourth and 13th centuries.

The team has found bricks, ceramic fragments and statues, including a large head.

Teamleader Nguyen Chieu, a lecturer at Hanoi 's University of SocialSciences and Humanities, on August 1 said that two foundations wererebuilt using material from collapsed towers.

"Wediscovered some bricks with figures, used to decorate walls of Chamtowers, in the foundations. That means that Cham people collected oldbricks from damaged towers to build new towers," he explained.

The excavation, close to the Qua Giang River, aims to shed light on a major hub of the Cham civilisation.

"Champeople often lived near rivers, which were major transport and tradingroutes. The Qua Giang River connects to the Han River in Da Nang cityand is an estuary of the East Sea ," Chieu said.

Whilethe French discovered the area 100 years ago, they conducted noexcavations and left only vague documents, which are currently displayedat the Cham Sculpture Museum .

Contemporaryresearchers must overcome funding shortages, as well as the difficulttask of getting permission to excavate from the four families who ownthe gardens and houses on the archaeological site.

Theexcavation was organised by archaeologists from the central city's ChamSculpture Museum and Hanoi's University of Social Sciences andHumanities.-VNA