Dong Son Drums (C35 p.35)

The Dong Son period is characterized as a period lasting from 2000BCE to 200CE, being the formation period of the Vietnamese nation under a royal dynasty. It also represents the end of the Bronze Age for the Iron Age. As well as the archeological material from the Dong Son period was very rich, its related culture is said to have had a great influence on its neighbor regions through important connections with the Tibeto-Burman, Thai and Mon-Khmer cultures. Such expansion can be explained thanks to the skillfulness of the Dong Son people, as they were great agriculturists, fisherman or bold sailors. Living in large huts closed to the sea or rivers, their boats traversed all the China Sea. Archeological discoveries in Thailand in the 1970's showed that bronze casting began in Southeast Asia before being borrowed by the Chinese. Such discoveries confirmed that the origin bronze drums of the Dong Son period can be closely related in basic structural features and decorative design to the pottery of the Phung Ngyuen culture (5000BCE ~ 4000BCE), as well as being reported in South and Southwest China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Indonesia. Up to 140 drums were also located throughout all Viet Nam. In fact, if most of the drums were made in Viet Nam or South China, they were trade in Java and Bali islands. The purpose of these drums (religious ceremonies, wars...) is still uncertain. Nevertheless, they were appreciated for their very high artistic level compared to the others civilizations of that time. These drums depict the Dong Son society in their daily chores or spiritual life with images of object, humans and animals. There is always a star on their center, encircled by concentric panels of scenes with humans and animals or geometric motifs. It can be understand from these pictures the rituals of the Dong Son people and their constant fighting for survival against peoples from the North. Dr. Franz Hager, an Austrian ethnographer, gave his name in 1902 to a classification o