Ancient Boats, Boat Timbers, and Locked Mortise-and-Tenon Joints from Bronze/Iron-Age Northern Vietnam

Abstract

This paper describes two nautical discoveries buried c .2000 years ago in the Red River alluvial plain, northern Vietnam. One is part of a logboat with a series of empty mortise and locking-peg holes for plank attachment using loose rectangular tenons. The other, from an infant mortuary house, is a series of re-used 4-m-long timbers with exactly the same locked mortiseand-tenon technology. Both finds are interpreted as having belonged to river-boats like those shown on the sides of Heger 1 (Dong Son) bronze drums. Potentially-related technologies from the Mediterranean and China are also discussed.

Dong Son drums from Timor-Leste: prehistoric bronze artefacts in Island Southeast Asia

“…Scenes of decapitation by individuals holding what appear to be bronze axes are also depicted on the sides of Dong Son drums from the Asian mainland—for example, on a drum from the second-century BC Nanyue tomb in Guangzhou, China (Bellwood et al 2007: fig. 14).…”

Ancient Copper Mining in Laos: Heterarchies, Incipient States or Post-State Anarchists?

“…Portions of two further canoes were found nearby. These appear to be on the edge of the mining area and while it is possible they were used in some way in mining or processing ore an alternative explanation is that they were coffins; this is not an uncommon practice in upland Southeast Asia and Dong Song sites in northern Vietnam (Taylor 1983;Higham 1989Higham , 2002Higham , 2009Bellwood et al 2007). These objects were found approximately 10m below the original ground surface; however, the steeply angled stratigraphy suggests that they may have been originally buried more shallowly, with subsequent erosion depositing soils above.…”

The Dong Xa Shroud

“…It was immediately evident that the boat that had been converted to a coffin unlike conventional Dongson coffins and of maritime significance (see Bellwood et al, 2007), and required preservation. A small brick tank was built onto the outer wall of the Hung Yen Museum for this purpose, into which the boat-coffin was immersed in water containing Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) for 12 months and slowly dried over 3 months (Figure 9).…”