Bronze Rattles from Deoksan (Presumed)

Prehistoric bronze bells of several forms, excavated on a hill near the tomb of the father of the Heungseon Daewongun in Yesan, South Chungcheong. They seem to have been used for magic by priest-rulers late in the Bronze Age, when religious and political authority were one. They comprise a pair of eight-bell rattles shaped like eight-pointed stars with a bell at each point, a pair of dumbbell-shaped twin-bell rattles, a pair of shell-shaped pole-top bells, and one combined twin-bell rattle like the twin-bell rattles but crossed once in a rounded X. The eight-bell rattles are 14.4 cm and 14.3 cm across, and the bells at their points are all 2.4 cm across, so the pair is identical. Eight small bells hang at the points, each with four oval openings. Two or three dotted lines run round the outer body, and a large cross at the centre seems to symbolise the sun. A bracket-shaped loop is attached at the back. The twin-bell rattles are 19.7 cm and 19.8 cm long, weighing 170.3 g and 172 g. Shaped like dumbbells, they swell at the middle and narrow towards the bells at either end. Each bell has four oval openings and bronze pellets inside. The two are almost the same, but one has a small hole at the middle. The combined twin-bell rattle is 17.3 cm long, its bells 4.4 cm across, and weighs 628 g. Two bodies, each with a bell at one end, are crossed in an X and joined; at the unbelled ends one body has a socket and the other a tenon, so they will not come apart. The pole-top bells are 14.7 cm and 14.9 cm high, weighing 616.5 g and 571 g, identical in form and differing only in size. Each has a body and a shaft with a hat-brim rim between them. Shell-shaped overall, the hollow body is divided by a partition, with bronze pellets above and an empty space below so that the sound rings well. These ritual objects are thought to date from the late third century BC, when this tradition was fading before cultural forms coming in from China.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보