US DOLLAR
EURO
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR
CANADIAN DOLLAR
POUND STERLING
Product Description
Dating from 1000 BC to 100 AD, the Dong Son culture is believed to be Asia's first civilization for ancient bronze casting. This is rare and complete set of 12 ancient bronze bangle bracelets of identical design coming from this unique culture. This is the entire set as found and it represents a treasure hoard of what was probably an offering to the spirits or past family members. The religious practices were animistic and totemic in nature. Complete hoard sets like these are extremely scarce and rarely kept intact like this. There is one large main bracelet and 11 other varying smaller bracelets but all are identical in their unique design - a concentric cone protruding from one side of a double ringed bangle. All twelve of the bangles are intact, complete and unbroken. The bronze is heavily encrusted with beautiful and vibrant blue-green ancient encrustations.
Requiring great skill in their crafting, these ancient Dong Son bronzes demonstrate a highly developed and artistically talented society that once thrived in ancient Southeast Asia. Objects like these were reserved for wealthy and noble class citizens of this culture.
HISTORY
The Dong Son culture (named for Đông Sơn, a village in Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centered at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the first century AD. It was the last great culture of Văn Lang and continued well into the period of the Âu Lạc state. Its influence spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Maritime Southeast Asia, from about 1000 BC to 1 BC.
The Dong Son people, who are also known as Lạc or Lạc Việt, were skilled at cultivating rice, keeping water buffalo and pigs, fishing and sailing in long dugout canoes. They also were skilled bronze casters, which is evidenced by the Dong Son drum found widely throughout northern Vietnam and South China.
The origins of Dong Son culture may be traced back to ancient bronze castings. The traditional theory is based on the assumption that bronze casting in eastern Asia originated in northern China. However, according to archaeological discoveries in Isan, Thailand in the 1970s, the casting of bronze began in Southeast Asia first. The Dong Son bronze industry has a local origin, equivalent in timing to the Gò Mun culture, 700-500 BC. This includes bronze axes, spearheads and knives. This was followed by daggers, swords, drums, and situla from 500-0 BC. Finally, Chinese seals, coins, mirrors and halberds appear in the first century AD.
