"It is a drum of the Shizhaishan type, named after the site of a royal cemetery of the Dian Kingdom where thousands of bronze artifacts have been unearthed, including numerous large drums which were used to relay messages in battle and in funerary rituals."
"Made entirely of cast bronze, it has a drumhead diameter of about 58.5 centimeters [23 inches], a body diameter of 65 centimeters [25.6 inches] and a total height of 29 centimeters [11.4 inches]. It weighs roughly 15 kilograms [33 lbs]. At the center of the drumhead is a 12-pointed sun motif, surrounded by bands of short linear patterns along the edge."
"Because of the significance of the drum and the proximity to the one found 46 years ago, archaeologists from the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology were engaged to investigate the find site. They found a pit that matches the drum's shape exactly. The imprints of the four toads remained at the bottom of the pit, indicating the drum had been buried upside down."
A well-preserved bronze drum from the Eastern Han Dynasty was discovered in Wenxing Village, Yunnan Province, during farming activities. The drum, classified as Shizhaishan type, measures 58.5 centimeters in diameter with a 12-pointed sun motif at its center and four sculpted toads around the rim. Cast entirely from bronze and weighing approximately 15 kilograms, the drum features decorative strap handles with rope-like patterns. Notably, another Eastern Han bronze drum was found 80 feet away in 1980. Archaeologists excavated the discovery site and found a pit matching the drum's exact shape, with toad imprints indicating the drum was buried upside down, suggesting symbolic burial practices in ancient Dian Kingdom culture.
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