Viet Khe ancient tomb, wood, c. 2,500-2,000 BP., discovered in Ngoc Khe village, Viet Khe commune, Thuy Nguyen district, Hai Phong city, 1961.
Viet Khe ancient tomb, wood, c. 2,500-2,000 BP., discovered in Ngoc Khe village, Viet Khe commune, Thuy Nguyen district, Hai Phong city, 1961.
Boat-shaped coffin is a popular burial custom of the Dong Son people living in the lowland of the Northern Delta. This coffin is 4.76m long and 0.57m wide and is made from the trunk of an ironwood tree. Besides deteriorated items (such as textiles and tannery), there were more than 100 objects found, mostly bronze objects, including domestic utensils (pots, vases, bowls); farming tools (axes, chisels), weapons (lances, spears, swords, daggers), and musical instruments (drums, bells). Some objects are distinctive in type, such as a bronze gourd-shaped dipper decorated with a figurine blowing a reed aerophone, a tanned leather piece with paint traces which could be a shield decorated with paint patterns, etc. These objects provide a better understanding of the social life of the Dong Son people, especially materials related to traditional crafts of Vietnam such as bronze making, leather tanning, and lacquer. Some of these objects are deformed, reflecting the belief that distorted objects were for the dead. The coffin is large in size, with large number of artefacts, showing the richness of the owner. It also reflects a belief in the afterlife of the people in another world, showing the rich spiritual life of the Dong Son people in this period.
Some offerings found in Viet Khe ancient tomb:
Bronze dipper decorated with a figurine blowing a reed aerophone
Bronze spears and spears without arrowheads
Bronze vase
Bronze knives