| Abstract: |
Viet Khe Burial 2 yielded not only the largest boat‐shaped coffin, but also the most abundant mortuary objects among the boat‐shaped coffin burials of the Bronze Age Dong Son Culture in Vietnam. A group of exotic bronze wares unearthed from Viet Khe Burial 2, including a tripod pot, spouted vessel, bell, sword, spearhead, ring‐ended handle paring knife, and scraping knife, were previously misidentified and can now be identified as artifacts of the Yue Culture of southern China. This discovery is significant in terms of exploring the relationship between the Dong Son and Yue cultures. We suggest that the exotic bronzes originated from the Wuyue and Baiyue cultural areas, and the burial could thus be cross‐dated to between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. After looking into the Yue bronzes of Viet Khe Burial 2 and other Yue bronze wares with Dong Son features found in southern China, we would like to argue that there might exist direct contact and exchange between the Dong Son and Baiyue cultures, but there would have been little possibility for cultural interaction between the Dong Son and Wuyue cultures.
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