DONG-SON CULTURE

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In addition to the above-mentioned axes, other bronze objects of great importance for the history of Indonesia's cultural development have also been found, the kettle-drums mentioned in the last chapter, which have been found both in Indonesia as well as In Further India and some other areas of South-east Asia. But it is difficult to decide whether these bronze drums were actually produced in Indonesia, or whether they were imported from South-east Asia. In order to appreciate the complexity of this problem, one has to know how these drums were made.

When casting bronze objects, one can either use and re-use stone moulds, or else apply the so-called a-cire-perdue (waste mould) process, i.e. as follows. Upon a core of clay wax or other grease is moulded to form the shape desired. To form the outer covering a fairly thick layer of clay is applied, in which the necessary funnels are left open. With the application of heat the clay becomes solid, the mould melts away, and is removed. The molten metal is now poured in though the funnels; when cool, the outer casing is broken away. Thus the mould goes waste. Whether this process was applied can be established by the existence of irregularities in those parts of the object adjacent to the funnels. Thus it is obvious that whenever the a-circ-perdue process was applied it can hardly now be ascertained whether the object found was really made in this area, since the original mould has been destroyed. This was also the case with a particularly fine kettledrum, 'The Moon of Bali', which was found near the village of Pedjeng on the island of Bali. Prof. T. P. Galestin remarked in this connection: "it is clear that some drums were imported, and, in the case of a few of them at least, it is assumed - and attempts to prove this point have been made - that they were cast in Indonesia either by means of' the a cire-perdue process or by means of stone moulds. For in the neighborhood of the village in question fragments of one of these stone moulds of tuff have been found, which, to judge by its decoration and general appearance, was designed for a drum similar to the one found in Pedjeng. but smaller One thing is in any case certain: the drum in Pedjeng is the largest kettle-drum in the world, and is one of the most magnificent masterpieces ever created by man. Whether this gem of bronze casting - the surface implies that no moulds were employed - originates from Bali is of course quite impossible to prove.