Ancient site · City
Cổ Loa Citadel
Cổ Loa, about 17 km north of central Hanoi, is a huge fortified city with three spiralling rings of earthen ramparts and moats; the outer wall runs about 8 km and still stands up to 12 metres high. Excavations dated part of the inner rampart to around 400–350 BCE, and Đông Sơn pottery and a 72 kg bronze drum show a local society built it before Han Chinese rule.
Vietnamese tradition credits King An Dương Vương of Âu Lạc and tells of a golden turtle that helped him, but these accounts were written down much later.
- Dates
- c. 4th–2nd century BCE
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 21.11° N, 105.87° E
How we know
The ramparts are dated by excavation and radiocarbon; the story that King An Dương Vương built them comes from much later legends and chronicles.
Nearby sites
- Đông Sơn c. 1000 BCE – 1st century CE (culture)
- Plain of Jars jars placed perhaps c. 1240–660 BCE; burials at Site 1 8th–13th centuries CE
- Ban Chiang c. 2000 or 1500 BCE – c. 200 CE (start date disputed)
- Spirit Cave c. 12,000–7,000 radiocarbon years ago (very roughly 10,000–5500 BCE)
- Mawangdui burials c. 186–160s BCE
- Jinsha c. 1200–800 BCE (Shi'erqiao phase)
Related
- Đông Sơn culture archaeological culture
- The world in 400 BCE: Age of Philosophers chapter