Ancient bronze drum discovered in Vietnam
HANOI - A farmer unearthed a 2 000-year-old, bronze drum in northern Vietnam, officials said Friday.
"We are still evaluating the drum but I can say it is valuable," said Nguyen Manh Cuong, a worker from Lao Cai provincial museum.
Pham Van Hien dug up the 22kg drum while excavating land on April 29 in Vo Lao commune, said Tay Lu Xuan Dang, an official from the commune 170km north-west of Hanoi.
"It is beautiful. The surface is rusty, but otherwise, the piece is in good condition," said Cuong.
The farmer's reward for turning the drum over to local authorities has not yet been decided, but will be hundreds of dollars, the museum official said.
Previously, stone axes, bronze arrow heads and other rudimentary tools have been found in the commune, but never a musical instrument, said Dang, the commune official from the Tay ethnic minority group.
"Because 96 percent of our commune's population is ethnic Tay, we don't tend to know the value of these things. So we just threw them away," Dang said.
The drum is believed to be from the Dong Son period, which makes it between 2 000 and 2 500 years old, the museum official said.
Sapa-DPA (.za) - May 09, 2003.
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