A mock-up of the Dong Son bronze drum displayed at the World of Sky Discs Exhibition in Germany. (Photo: VNA) According to the German archaeologists, the Dong Son bronze drum, datingback to the Bronze Age, shares various similarities with many famous discsfound elsewhere around the world, including “Nebra Sky Disc,” an ancient objectthought to be the world’s oldest map of the stars created in Germany around1670 B.C. The disc illustrates what may be the sun or full moon, a crescentmoon and stars.
Through their decades-long cooperation, Görlitz and Wirth providedvisitors with a glimpse on not only ancient astronomy but also the Bronze Age. Theuse of new image science methods has also led to ground-breaking discoveries ofthe sky discs.
Dr. Dominique Görlitz (left) and Dr. Kai Helge Wirth at the exhibition. (Photo: VNA) Hang said she was proud to see Vietnam’s Dong Son bronze drumintroduced at a German exhibition in such a unique way.
Dong Son Culture (dated from the seventh century BC to thefirst – second century AD) was a Metal Age in ancient Vietnam. It was named byarchaeologists for the Dong Son village on the banks of Ma River, Thanh Hoa city where a number of bronze items were accidentally discovered in 1924.
The Dong Son bronze drums (also called Heger Type 1 drums according toF. Heger's classification) are bronze drums fabricated by the Dong Son cultureand one of the finest examples of Vietnamese ancient bronze casting technique.
They were perhaps used as one kind of important musicalinstrument initially, but step by step, they became the symbol of power of DongSon tribe leaders and representing for the survival of the Lac Viet Community./.
VNA
