Đông Sơn Culture
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The Dong Son culture, Dongsonian culture, or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
culture in ancient Vietnam centred at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the first century AD.Higham, C., 2014, ''Early Mainland Southeast Asia'', Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., Vietnamese historians attribute the culture to the states of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc. Its influence spread to other parts of
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, including
Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...
, from about 1000 BC to 1 BC. The Đông Sơn people were skilled at cultivating
rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
, keeping
water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...
s and pigs, fishing and sailing in long dugout canoes. They also were skilled bronze casters, which is evidenced by the
Dong Son drum A Đông Sơn drum (; also called Heger Type I drum) is a type of ancient bronze drum created by the Đông Sơn culture that existed in the Red River Delta. The drums were produced from about 600 BCE or earlier until the third century CE; the ...
found widely throughout northern Vietnam and
Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
in China. To the south of the Đông Sơn culture was the Sa Huỳnh culture of the proto-Chams.


Identity

The Dongsonians spoke either Austroasiatic or Northern Tai languages; or were Austroasiatic-speakers with significant contact and admixture with Tai-speakers. Archaeogenetics have demonstrated that before the Đông Sơn period, the Red River Delta's inhabitants were predominantly Austroasiatic. Genetic data from Vietnam's Phùng Nguyên culture's Mán Bạc burial site demonstrated close proximity to modern Austroasiatic speakers such as the Khmer and Mlabri; meanwhile, "mixed genetics" from Đông Sơn culture's Núi Nấp site showed affinity to " Dai from China, Tai-Kadai speakers from Thailand, and Austroasiatic speakers from Vietnam, including the Việt". One study states that the majority of Dongsonians have cranial features characterized by narrow long faces, relatively flat glabellas and nasal roots and round orbits due to extensive admixture with their northern neighbors, including those from southern China. Another study states that Núi Nấp populations have affinities with the Dushan and Baojianshan and that they can be modeled as a mixture of Dushan-related (~65%) and northern East Asian-related (~35%) ancestry. Ferlus (2009) showed that the inventions of pestle, oar, and a pan to cook sticky rice, which is the main characteristic of the Đông Sơn culture, correspond to the creation of new lexicons for these inventions in Northern Vietic (Việt–Mường) and Central Vietic ( Cuoi-Toum). The new vocabularies to denote these inventions were proven to be derivatives from original verbs rather than borrowed lexical items. The current distribution of Northern Vietic also correspond to the area of Đông Sơn culture. Thus, Ferlus conclude that the Dongsonian culture was of Vietic origin and they were the direct ancestors of modern
Vietnamese people The Vietnamese people (, ) or the Kinh people (), also known as the Viet people or the Viets, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day northern Vietnam and Dongxing, Guangxi, southern China who speak Vietnamese language, Viet ...
.


Origins

The origins of Đông Sơn culture may be traced back to ancient bronze castings. Scholars traditionally traced the origins of bronze-casting technology to China but during the 1970s archaeological discoveries in Isan, Thailand found that the casting of bronze either began in Southeast Asia first then spread into China, or that it developed the practise independently from China. The Đông Sơn bronze industry therefore has a local origin in Southeast Asia rather than being introduced by migrations out of China. The Gò Mun culture gave rise to the Đông Sơn culture; the Đông Sơn was the culmination of the Bronze Age and the opening stage of the Iron Age. The bronze drums were used for war, "the chief summons the warriors of the tribe by beating the drum", when mourning, and during feasts. "The scenes cast onto the drums would inform us that the Dong Son leaders had access to bronze founders of remarkable skill." Lost-wax casting was based on Chinese
founders Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...
, but the scenes are local, including drummers and other musicians, warriors, rice processing, birds, deer, war vessels, and geometric designs. The bronze drums were made in significant proportions in northern Vietnam, Laos and parts of
Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
. The Đông Sơn bronze drums exhibit "remarkable skill". The Cổ Loa drum weighs and would have required the smelting of between of
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
ore. Displays of the Đông Sơn drum surface can be seen in some of Vietnam's cultural institutions. Some of Đông Sơn bronze daggers closely resemble Scytho-Siberian styles.


See also

* Lạc Việt *
Dong Son drum A Đông Sơn drum (; also called Heger Type I drum) is a type of ancient bronze drum created by the Đông Sơn culture that existed in the Red River Delta. The drums were produced from about 600 BCE or earlier until the third century CE; the ...
* Austronesia * Nanyue * Âu Lạc * Baiyue


References


Bibliography

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External links


Đông Sơn culture (photo collection)

Drums from Selayar (photo collection)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dong Son Culture Ancient Vietnam Prehistoric Thailand Archaeological cultures of Southeast Asia Archaeological cultures in Vietnam Bronze Age cultures of Asia 1st millennium BC in Vietnam