| Abstract: |
A miniature filigree Bronze Age boat assigned by scholars to the Dong-So’n period was discovered in the early twentieth century by a missionary at Mt. Dobo, Flores. Numerous bronze objects, including kettledrums and axes, exist from this period. This bronze boat, however, is unique. There are no other ship models known among all Southeast Asian cast bronzes. Despite this, the model has passed almost unnoticed by archaeologists. Beside the missionary’s report, only three scholarly papers were published on this fine ancient example of high craftsmanship between 1914 and 1985. Some parts of the deck and the platforms of this miniature ship have now been broken and lost. This article attempts to add to former information and gives new interpretations on the special design of this battleship based on multiple close-up photographs the author took in 1990 and 2009, which give a hint as to how the practice of pirate sea attacks may have been executed during the Bronze Age.
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