The Distribution of Bronze Drums of the Heger I and Pre-I Types : Temporal Changes and Historical Background

Based on the chronological sequence and temporal division of bronze drums published in 1993, the changes in their distribution throughout Southern China and Southeast Asia are examined. The chronology proposed in 1993 divided the bronze drums of the Heger I type into six phases: 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b. Since these small divisions leave many drums for which there is insuffi cient information unclassified, a rather rough division into phases 1, 2 and 3, plus phase 0 for the Pre-Heger I type, is also used. // The drums of phase 0 (4th ~ 3rd c. B.C.) concentrate in Southern China and Northern Vietnam. Phase 1 (3rd ~ 1st c. B.C.) shows a similar distribution, with partial expansions into the peninsular area of Thailand and the island of Java in Indonesia. In the next phase, 2a (1st c. B.C.), the bronze drums disappear almost completely from Southern China. Although Vietnam retains a fair number of drums, there are fewer large drums. In contrast to this situation in the northern areas, the southern areas of Southeast Asia witness an increase in number. There is a special phenomenon where particularly large drums concentrate on small islands of Eastern Indonesia. In phase 2b (1st c. A.D.), drums of the Dong Son tradition diffuse into the vacancy left by the Shizaishan tradition in Southern China, where it had disappeared; hence, Guangxi Province becomes the area with the densest distribution in phase 3b (2nd c. A.D. and after). Around this time, drums that are in the process of changing to the Indonesian Pejeng type, though very few in number, are seen in the southern areas. // Regarding the historical background, bronze drums disappeared temporarily in phase 2a in China and diffused into the southern part of Southeast Asia soon after the conquest of Southern China and Northern Vietnam by the Han Empire and as a direct consequence of this invasion. // The changes in the distribution of bronze drums reveal that prehistoric Southeast Asia was not a gathering of small, isolated worlds, but rather a network of mutually linked areas more or less in unison