Archaeological Research in Indo-China. Vol. I: The District of Chiu-Chen during the Han Dynasty. General Considerations and Plates.

Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1947. First edition, 4to, pp.xl, 73, 169 plates. An internally very good copy in original cloth. Upper board creased and slightly finger stained, corners bumped. The scarce first volume recording the results of Janse's three archaeological excavations in Indo-China from 1934 to 1939. Robert Ture Olov Janse (1892-1985), a Swedish archaeologist, is widely lauded as the man who brought organisation and respectability to Southeast Asian archaeology. His excavations were largely focused on brick tombs of the Han period in Tonkin and North and Central Annam, particularly Dong-so'n. Of the dozens of tombs uncovered one was one of the largest subterranean brick buildings in Indo-China (tomb no.2 of Nghi-ve) and several were completely undisturbed, leading to rich funerary deposits. Some later tombs and locations were contemporary with the Sung and T'ang dynasty. The second and third volumes published several years later are not present.