KUALA LUMPUR: The eight bronze Dong Son drums discovered in several locations around Peninsular Malaysia are believed to have been left behind during a time of trade between 500 BC – 500 AD.
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, History Department lecturer, Assoc Professor Dr Adnan Jusoh, said this is based on research he started in 2002 using typological analysis, which is an examination of the people motifs on the drum.
"There are various decorative motifs on the tympanum and around the drum believed to be connected with a community’s sociocultural system and activities at the time,” he said in his lecture delivered at a Bicara Arkeologi 2019 event officiated by Tourism, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister, Muhammad Bakthiar Wan Chik, today.
The earliest drum was found in Sungai Tembeling, Pahang in 1926, with another four discovered in Selangor and three more in Terengganu. They originate from Vietnam, with the name referring to a village called Dong Son.
Muhammad Bakhtiar said the country’s archaeological expertise needs to be furthered in order to produce accurate data with the potential to be refined into a lucrative tourism product.
He said with the country’s list of 823 archaeological sites, it is about time to empower the field to contribute to tourism.
“It is the ministry’s hope that archaeological sites are taken care of by all through ordinance and sustainable archaeo-tourism based on the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645).” he said. — BERNAMA