Ancient Vietnamese Dong Son Bronze Spear Point

Ancient Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Dong Son culture, ca. late 1st millennium BCE. A long cast-bronze spear head with a tapered socketing shaft, a diamond-shaped blade, and a pronounced mid rib. Bronze weapons like this have been found in high status Dong Son burials, and it seems that bronze items - both the making of and ownership of - were controlled by a limited elite who used them to acquire and maintain power over their own people. As elsewhere in the Old World, there is a clear relationship between sophisticated bronze metallurgical technology and the development of highly stratified, militaristic societies. Size: 1.2" W x 6.85" H (3 cm x 17.4 cm); 8.25" H (21 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Butterfield 2006

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#139332
Condition Report: Losses to bottom of socketing shaft and blade edges as shown, with light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits and patina throughout.