Archaeologists uncover artefacts at the site of the ancient city of Dagaung, about 205 kilometres by river north of Mandalay.

HISTORIANS have long disputed the old saying, “Dagaung is the very origin of Myanmar”, but recent archaeological discoveries might be proving that centuries-old folk wisdom is closer to the truth than many scholars have believed.

According to legend, Dagaung – an ancient city 205 kilometres (127 miles) by river north of Mandalay, near the confluence of the Ayeyarwady River and Talarwa Creek – was founded by the descendents of Lord Buddha’s relatives, members of the Sakya Dynasty who ruled the northern India 25 centuries ago.
The Department of Archaeology in Mandalay started excavation of Dagaung in 1967, but until 2004, there was no evidence that the city was older than the early Bagan period (10th century AD), said U Aye Maung, director of research and training at the department.

“Between 1967 and 2004, we discovered remnants of royal thrones, Buddha images, caskets containing relics of the Buddha, gold rings and gold hair-knot caps, etcetera, but they were all contemporary to the early Bagan period,” he said.

In 2004 however, department deputy director U Saw Lwin led an excavation team that uncovered a ridge of bricks that turned out to be the first terrace of an octagonal pagoda.

“According to our estimates, the pagoda dates back as early as the seventh to 10th centuries AD, which would make it contemporary with the Pyu period,” he said, adding that the pagoda bricks bore three bands of fingerprints across their surface, a design element characteristic of the Pyu period.

The team also found a layer of charcoal about 0.45 metres (1.5 feet) beneath the surface of the ground, under the northeast corner of the pagoda, which researchers dated back more than 2000 years.

That find alone did not provide enough evidence to claim that humans lived in the area that long ago, as the charcoal layer could have been the remains of an ancient forest fire, U Saw Lwin said.

However, another discovery made around the same time pointed towards earlier human habitation than previously thought.

“In July 2004, we unexpectedly unearthed 65 funeral urns, counting beads and flat bricks with fingerprints, plus a seven-inch manmade post,” he said.

These relics were dated back to the same time period as the charcoal layer, indicating that humans had lived on the site as early as the first century AD, U Aye Maung said.

U Saw Lwin said that as the excavations continued, more relics were uncovered. Last February, the south entrance of the third wall of the three-wall city was unearthed, as well as stone doorjambs, shards of decorated pottery, portions of an ancient pagoda, a piece of an inscribed stone and several votive tablets.

“This latest discovery shows us there was an empire centred in Dagaung, which was a great city,” he said. “We’ve found that Dagaung is much older than Bagan, dating back as early as the first century AD, which is the early Pyu period.”

Famous historians such as G H Luce and Dr Than Tun have said the Pyu people migrated to the Myanmar region as early as the third century BC, and established kingdoms that flourished from the fourth to ninth centuries AD.
“So we can say now that the saying ‘Dagaung is the very origin of Myanmar’ is right,” U Aye Maung said.

He said that so far, 35 of 38 sites at Dagaung have been excavated. Although work has been suspended for the monsoon season, digging will resume in the upcoming open season from October to March.

“Because the city gets high rainfall and most of it is covered by bushes and undergrowth, and is therefore difficult to access, archaeologists ignored the area for about 100 years,” U Aye Maung said. “Now there are many areas to uncover, and the site still has great potential.”