In search of a musical past: evidence for early chordophones from Vietnam

Music likely played an important role within prehistoric societies but can be challenging to study in the absence of evidence for musical instruments. Here, the authors present two deer antlers recovered from the early Metal Age site of Go O Chua in southern Vietnam. A detailed examination of the ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAntiquity Vol. 97; no. 391; pp. 141 - 157
Main Authors Campos, Fredeliza Z., Hull, Jennifer R., Vương, Thu Hồng
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.02.2023
Subjects
Anthropological research
Archaeology
Deer
Discovery and exploration
Ethnography
Excavation
Grave goods
Historic artifacts
Metals
Morphology
Musical instruments
Musicology
Prehistoric archaeology
Prehistoric era
Stringed instruments
Use-wear analysis
Vietnam
Southeast Asia
Mainland Southeast Asia
ancient technology
use-wear analysis
stringed musical instruments
prehistoric music
ethnographical analogy
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Summary:Music likely played an important role within prehistoric societies but can be challenging to study in the absence of evidence for musical instruments. Here, the authors present two deer antlers recovered from the early Metal Age site of Go O Chua in southern Vietnam. A detailed examination of the artefacts, including evidence for use-wear, combined with insights from ethnographic analogies, leads the authors to conclude that the artefacts were single-stringed musical instruments. At least 2000 years old, the Go O Chua artefacts would be the earliest-known examples of chordophones from the region and indicate a long musical tradition. Their identification gives impetus to archaeo-musicological research in Southeast Asia and beyond.
ISSN:0003-598X
1745-1744
DOI:10.15184/aqy.2022.170