SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

26 October 2006 (Sydney Morning Herald) - The National Gallery of Australia reveals its latest item in its collection, a 6th century bronze statuette of Indonesian origin. The article doesn’t describe the statuette’s provenance, but mentions that it was from the Javanese bronze age. This would put it around the time of the Srivijaya empire, although there is mention of an independent Bronze Age. Will have to go read that up.

Gallery unveils the $4million woman

The diminutive sculpture depicts a woman nursing an infant while weaving on a foot-braced body tension loom.

…

Part of the myth surrounding the sculpture is the uncertainty about its age. It was believed to be too young to come from the Dong Son bronze-age culture that was centred on North Vietnam and ended in AD200, and it may have been from the Javanese Bronze Age, which peaked between the eighth and 14th centuries.

The gallery decided to have the clay core of the sculpture tested by thermo-luminescence.

The surprise result was that it was made between AD556 and 596.

Maxwell says archaeologists suggested there was an independent island bronze age in Indonesia about that time and there are several pieces in the National Gallery in Jakarta that are possibly from that period.

Related Books:
- The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia (Cambridge World Archaeology) by C. Higham
- The bronze-iron age of Indonesia (Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde) by H. R. van Heekeren

3 October 2006 (Vietnam Net Bridge) -

Dong Son drum found in central province

A Dong Son bronze drum was just unearthed in the central province of Quang Ngai where indications of the Sa Huynh culture had been found.

. . .

But as all the pieces were still at the place where it was buried, the measurements of its diameter and it height show that it was 44cm in diameter and 28cm high. Patterns on the drum’s surface could still be seen clearly.

On its surface there are 12 stars with the centre point was cast emerging. Surrounding the stars are striped lines. There are for carvings of toads at the edge of the drum surface.

21 September 2006 (Vietnam Net Bridge) - First private museum showcasing artefacts from ancient Vietnam is opened.

First private museum opens

The Hoang Long Artifacts Museum in the central province of Thanh Hoa is owned by Hoang Van Thong, who has zoned off 500 sq.m of his own land to establish the first ever private museum in Vietnam. The exhibits range from earthenware from the Dong Son culture in the Bronze Age (from 1000 to 1 BC) and farming tools, weapons, household utensils and personal decorations and antique ceramics from the Ly, Tran and Le dynasties from the late 10th century to the late 18th century.

Related Books:
- Shipwrecks and Sunken Treasure in Southeast Asia by T. Wells

12 Sep 2006 (VietNam Net Bridge) -

Dong Son drum found by chance

A resident of the northern province of Ha Tay unearthed an ancient drum when he was building his house, an official of the local Department of Culture and Information said Monday.

Experts from the Vietnam History Museum tested the drum and came to conclusion that the 2000-year-old drum belongs to Dong Son Civilization.

Related Books:
- Bronze Dong Son Drums by Ha Thuc Can
- Dong Son Drums in Viet Nam

16 May 2006 (Nhan Dhan) -

Another ancient bronze drum found in Central Highlands

Another ancient bronze drum believed to belong to the Dong Son Culture some 2,000 years ago has been unearthed in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lac.

Related Books:
The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia (Cambridge World Archaeology) by C. Higham
Bronze Dong Son Drums by Ha Thuc Can

3 May 2006 (Thanh Nien News) - Looting of antiquities in Vietnam.

Rumors cause collectors to raid archaeological site

Over the past two months, hundreds of people in Nghia Hoa commune, Nghia Dan district made their way to Dong Hieu rubber tree plantation located in Lang Vac (Vac Village) to hunt for antiques.

The wave of collectors began after a rumor that a person found a pair of ancient elephant statues there and sold them in Hanoi for hundreds of millions of dong (one US dollar is worth just under VND16,000).

Since then local residents have flocked to the archaeological site, which the Ministry of Culture and Information recognized as a national heritage in 1999, to dig for antiques in search of fast cash…

Hai also said many residents had found antiques, usually bronze products in shapes of deer, hippopotamuses, and wild-bulls, stone bracelets, pottery, iron swords, axes, and small bronze drums.

Related Books:
The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia (Cambridge World Archaeology) by C. Higham
Bronze Dong Son Drums by Ha Thuc Can
Van Hoa Dong Son / Dong Son Culture - Its Unity and Diversity by Pham Minh Huyen