A farmer in the northwestern province of Dien Bien accidentally unearthed an age-old bronze drum while ploughing his fields.
The finding came when Lo Van Viet’s pickaxe hit a metal block, causing a resounding noise. He brought the object home and handed it over to local authorities the next day.
The block turned out to be a Heger type III bronze drum in accordance with the 1902 typology of Austrian scholar Franze Heger. It is the first time this drum type has been discovered in Dien Bien.
It is 20 kilogrammes in weight and 50 centimetres in length. The drumhead is round, while the bottom is oval.
The drum was placed in the provincial museum for further research.