Discovering 2,000-year-old Dong Son bronze drum in Timor Leste

According to a reporter from Timor Leste, this small Southeast Asian country has a remarkable archaeological discovery when it found a fairly intact Dong Son drum.

Found Dong Son bronze drum quite intact in Timor Leste

This copper drum of 1.03m in diameter, 78cm in height and 80kg in weight was discovered accidentally at a construction site in Baucau, Timor Leste's second largest city, at the end of last year.

However, the official information was only released at the end of last November, after researchers had preliminary evaluations.

Copper drum surface.(Photo: Trung Son / Vietnam +).

According to archaeologist Nuno Vasco Oliveira of the Committee for Culture and Art of the Government of Timor Leste, who put a lot of effort into this research, it can be affirmed that 99.99% is Dong Son bronze drum, which is a symbol of Dong Son culture (700 TCN-100) of ancient Vietnamese people.

This is not the first time Dong Son drums were discovered in Timor Leste. However, the former only had a lot of empty and damaged parts twice, while the bronze drum was discovered this time in good condition.

Archaeologist Oliveira judged that this is one of the most intact Dong Son bronze drums found in Southeast Asia.

According to the reporter's observation, on the face of the newly discovered drum there are 4 toad statues while the middle of the drum is a 12-pointed star.

Star 12 wings between empty surfaces.(Photo: Trung Son / Vietnam +).

Because the new restoration work was carried out not long ago, many of the vignettes on the drum and drum body were not clarified.

Thus, this bronze drum is more likely to belong to group C (classified according to the distribution of the carvings and patterns on the drum).

Currently this bronze drum is being preserved at Timor Leste Culture and Art Committee. Further work is expected to begin early next year as it continues to recover, expand its search and archeology in the area around the site of the bronze drum; send samples to France for accurate assessment of materials and dates (according to experts in Timor Leste, this Dong Son bronze drum is at least 2,000 years old).

This will be a typical exhibit in the Timor Leste National Museum under construction.

Mr. Oliveira stressed that this finding is very significant for Timor Leste, a young country.

Previously, archaeologists had found many similar patterns, motifs, and carvings on stone as in Dong Son bronze drum in the eastern provinces of this country.

One of 4 toad statues on the empty face.(Photo: Trung Son / Vietnam +).

Images of Dong Son bronze drum are being preserved and preserved at Timor Leste Culture and Art Committee.(Photo: Trung Son / Vietnam +).

The drum body is recreated by graphic technology.(Photo: Trung Son / Vietnam +).

Restoration work.(Photo: Trung Son / Vietnam +).

The discovery of Dong Son bronze drum further confirmed the presence of thousands of years ago of Dong Son culture here.

Through the research, the history of this land will be better understood and also provide more useful information about ancient culture in Southeast Asia.

Mr. Oliveira also expressed his hope that he will be able to share information and research on this bronze drum with Vietnamese archaeologists.

Dong Son drum is a typical drum for Dong Son culture of the ancient Vietnamese, often with a large size, balanced and harmonious shape, showing a high level of skills and art, rich patterns. describe the human life of that time.