Authorities in northern Vietnam have asked police to investigate whether an ancient bronze drum kept in a provincial museum is the same artifact three schoolboys found in a cave 32 years ago.
A leader of the Ninh Binh Department of Culture and Sports told VietNamNet on the afternoon of Sept. 21 that the department had sent a written request to provincial police seeking assistance in reviewing records and verifying information about the artifact.
According to the department, Ninh Binh Provincial Museum's Facility No. 1 currently holds a bronze drum registered under the number 2958/KL381.
The artifact was transferred to the provincial museum by the former Nho Quan District Police on Dec. 23, 1998. Records state that the drum had been discovered by three schoolchildren in a water-filled cave in Thach La hamlet, Thach Binh commune, in what was then Nho Quan district.
The bronze drum was discovered in a cave by three schoolboys who had gone into the forest to collect firewood 32 years ago.
The drum is 37 centimeters tall, with a top diameter of 42.3 centimeters and a base diameter of 47 centimeters. It weighs 19.2 kilograms.
Its surface features a 10-pointed star and relatively simple decorative patterns, while its body bears numerous repaired holes. The artifact remains in good condition and belongs to the Dong Son culture, dating back around 2,000-2,500 years.
However, comparing the museum's records with documents submitted by Quach Van Quynh as part of his request for information has failed to establish that the museum artifact is the same drum he and two friends discovered in 1994.
The documents supplied by Quynh contain no detailed measurements of the artifact and lack descriptions of its decorative patterns that could help identify it. They include only two photographs showing the drum alongside the two friends who helped discover it in a cave on Thung Mai mountain.
The only detail shared by the two sets of records is that three schoolboys discovered a bronze drum in a cave.
Authorities have not been able to confirm that the bronze drum now held at Ninh Binh Provincial Museum's Facility No. 1 is the same artifact discovered in 1994.
The remaining information does not provide sufficient grounds to conclude that the drum now held by Ninh Binh Provincial Museum is the one discovered by Quynh and his two friends in 1994.
Another gap has emerged in the records.
The 1998 document recording the transfer of the bronze drum from Nho Quan District Police to museum staff contains a note stating that a "specific handover record is attached."
A review of the provincial museum's archives, however, found no such document.
The Ninh Binh Department of Culture and Sports has asked provincial police to help review files and documents from the former Nho Quan District Police concerning the case between 1994 and 1998.
Authorities are particularly seeking the detailed handover record between the Thach Binh Commune People's Committee and Nho Quan District Police, as well as the subsequent record documenting the transfer from district police to provincial museum staff.
Authorities have asked police to review records and help verify the identity of the artifact.
The department has also asked Ninh Binh police for guidance on procedures to determine whether the bronze drum held by the museum can be linked to photographs of the artifact supplied by Quynh.
Earlier, residents of Doi Bo hamlet in the former Thach Binh commune, Nho Quan district - now Binh Phu hamlet in Phu Son commune, Ninh Binh province - petitioned local authorities and relevant agencies in hopes of tracing the whereabouts of the bronze drum.
According to their account, Quach Van Quynh, born in 1982, Quach Van Luan, born in 1981, and Bui Van Chien, born in 1984, discovered the drum in a mountain cave in the Thung Mai area in 1994 while collecting firewood.
Vietnamnet.vn
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