Terrence Tan
Pyu Gold
and Samon Beads
The
Pyu are recognized by many as the prime
traders of the first millennium AD,
particularly in precious metals. Gold
ornaments and silver coins and ritual
objects are abundant during the Pyu
period. The cities of the Pyu were well
located to intercept travelers from
Yunnan to the north as well as merchants
from Mesopotamia, Rome and India.
Geographically and perhaps eco-
nomiCally, Pyu cities both guarded and
opened the gates to Southeast Asia, with
gold ornaments marking the prosperity of
this era.
The principal settlements of the Pyu are
located along the Ayeyarwaddy River
north and south of Mandalay, although
artefacts of the Pyu are found
throughout much of Upper Myanmar. Win
Maung (Tampawaddy) has documented from
remote sensing imagery and ground survey
that many earlier settlements existed in
areas known today as Bagan, Kyaukse,
Shwebo and Pyay.
Within the
clusters around these towns, villages
are spread out some twenty kilometers
apart. Thus travelers, at the end of a
day's journey on foot, easily found
shelter and food when journeying for
example, from Maingmaw near Kyaukse to
Sriksetra, east of Pyay. From the
constant flow of local and long- haul
traders, many of these clusters merged
to form centres surrounded by satellite
towns. Gold could easily be carried by
individual traders, so while the
population remained largely local, many
foreign influences were absorbed.
This
pattern is not unique to the Pyu, for
similar patterns are seen at sites in
Lower Myanmar and South and Southeast
Asia. In all these areas, including
Upper Myanmar, the Pyu were not the
first settlers. Rich evidence of pre-Pyu
habitation is seen notably in the
bronze-iron Samon Valley culture dating
from the late first millennium BC.l Gold
is occasionally seen in the Samon
culture but minimally, only for example,
to coat a bead.2 One of the most
abundant artifacts of the Samon bronze
culture are finely polished beads of
bone, shell, ivory, and semi-precious
stones such as carnelian, green
chalcedony, banded agate and fossil
wood. These were all of great trading
interest to the Pyu and are one of the
main artifact types of the Samon
appropriated by the Pyu? The rich
colours and fine polished beads are
often called Pyu, but in fact are a
legacy of the Samon culture..
In
summary, from the gold ornaments and
stone beads, we can classify Pyu
ornaments into two groups. The gold
ornaments introduced new materials,
forms and manufacturing techniques.
Stone bead manufacture kept mostly to
earlier Samon forms and materials, but
developed more and more sophisticated
manufacturing techniques. While much
research needs to be done on the
technical evolution, a six-stage pro-
gression has been provisionally sketched
out by the author in collaboration with
Win Maung (Tampawaddy).
Technical evolution (1) The earliest
beads appear to have been made by
stringing the objects as they were found
in nature. The only techniques used were
flaking, grinding, bruting, cutting, and
polishing.
(2) Later,
the bead surface was incised to make
lines, dots, and circles.
(3) When
application of heat was possible,
powdered glass or feldspar was used to
fill the incisions and produce inlaid
designs.
(4)
Technology to bleach and dye developed
greatly with the advancement of alchemy
Clockwise
from top:
3 cm
square gold foils with minute gold balls
lining the etched design, a 2 cm
long sapphire pendant, and a necklace
with each bead only 0.5
cm long
possibly
from South Asia. Dyeing was carried out
using seven (hot) chemicals, in varied
recipes.
a.
For instance, for black, arsenic, yellow
orpiment, copper sulphate (blue
vitriol), sulphur, cinnabar, ammonia,
and borax were used.
b. To
bleach and etch white lines four (cold)
chemicals such as saltpetre (KNO3),
natron (NaOH), quick lime (CaO), and
salt (NaCI) were used.
(5) Casting
and moulding were employed to make mini
bronze bells worn as beads.
(6) Simple
methods for smithing gold, such as
casting, and moulding, were known to
have been applied in making gold beads.
As noted above, in the Samon culture,
hollow gold beads are seen, filled with
mastic.
In
many of the stone beads, the lack of
in
situ
finds of
Samon and Pyu has made it difficult to
assign these techniques to Samon or Pyu
cultures. It is probable, however, that
the alchemic techniques arose in tandem
with the increased contact with South
Asia that contributed to the Pyu
cultural expansion. Notably, fossil
wood, so abundant in Myanmar beads, does
not appear to have been in use during
the first millennium BC and early
centuries AD in South Asia, Thailand or
Yunnan.4 In the Pyu period, all the
techniques mentioned above were used in
the production of beads of various
designs. In addition, advanced methods
in gold smithing could be observed in
this period, such as chasing, repousse,
granulation, forging, gold wire, and
mercury amalgam gilding. The Gold
Design
Sha~e
Technique
Rings
Bangle
Earpiece
Anklet, am1let Rings Bangle Earpiece
Anklet, annlet Rings
Bangle
Earpiece
Anklet, am11et
IPinion,
perforated triangles, granulated or
spiked but a~~~;~o~~~,:" ~~!~:n:g~Ara~~s~I~~~~~~
~~~~~~!
1 Plain
plus floral, solid, gem setting, hollow
i
Plain, hollow, solid
r~ , ~oOO~,
s~i~E~isc~~~ted .."-- : Round,
broad, flat, concave, disconnected Plu
s, rin s, dro s
Round, broad, flat, concave
Forging, filing, moulding, casting,
soldering, wirework, open work,
filigree, chasing, repousse,
granulation, punching, engraving,
gilding, mastic filling, braided
wires Forging, filing, moulding,
casting, soldering, wirework
Forging, filing, moulding, casting,
soldering, wirework,
Forging, filing, moulding, casting,
soldering, wirework,
Ornament
Chart sets out the varied forms of gold
ornaments.
Although
the Pyu retained most of the same
designs, shape and techniques as the
Samon stone beads more precious stones
such as diamonds, rubies and sapphires
were later introduced. This led to
additional methods of finishing such as
cabochon shapes. In addition, many beads
were ornamented with motifs of South
Asian origin. These symbols also played
a major role in the introduction of gold
ornaments, Bronze was used with great
skill in the Samon culture, but only
minimally for ornaments. For example,
coiled rings were excavated at the site
of Nyaungyan and a broad bronze bracelet
with faces at Letpanywa near Beikthano.5
A few bronze rings in the shapes such as
stirrup and disconnected rings have been
found, and there is some evidence of
punching to produce bronze rings.
Finally, miniature bronze bells were
produced by casting and moulding.
However, Samon use of bronze for
ornament was rare, a pattern which
continues in the Pyu period. In the many
varied Pyu finds, onlya few bronze
ornaments have been documented, with the
principal materials being semi-precious
and precious stones and gold. Even
silver, so often used for silver coins,
was only used rarely for ornaments.
Gold
is only seen occasionally in the Samon
cemeteries. For instance, a series of
gold nuggets have been found at Halin,
and also at Halin, a horde of small gold
discs made to string into a necklace.
The nuggets are all pierced for
stringing, as are the wafer-thin discs
which when strung make a flexible cord-
like necklace. However, neither has good
provenance and Halin is rich in both
Samon, Pyu and later artefacts. While
probably pre- Bagan, whether they are
Late Samon or Pyu is not clear, as is
whether they were found within the
walled area or to the south where a
number of additional artefacts have been
recorded.
From
the Gold Ornament Table, the many forms
of Pyu gold working design, shape and
techniques can be seen. Not only were
many new shap~s and designs introduced,
but a number of production methods not
seen in the Samon culture were
introduced.
Conclusion
From this, it appears that the Pyu gold
working absorbed a range of new
techniques and forms, possibly from
South Asia. These changes in ornament
were paralleled by the many changes to
Pyu society, religion and kingship, all
of South Asian derivation. While the
Samon period culture shows many
similarities with that of the Dian
culture of Yunnan, this is not seen in
the Pyu period. Nonetheless the Pyu
appropriated the Samon semi-precious
stone beads suggesting Pyu domination of
an indigenous population. .
Bibliography Hudson, B. (2004
(Unpublished)). The Origins of
6.gggn.Archaeology. Sydney, University
of Sydney.
Moore, E.
2006 (forthcoming). Earl~ LandscaRes
of M~anmar. Bangkok: River Books.
Nyein Lwin
(2004 (Unpublished)). An outline of
M~anmar's earl~ urban s~stem: new
archaeological discoveries at LetRan~wa.
International Burma Studies
Conference, October 22-24, DeKalb,
Illinois. Nyunt Han, Win Maung (~mpawaddy).,
Elizabeth Moore (2002). Prehistoric
Grave Goods from the Chindwin and Samon
River Regions. Burma: Art and
Archaeology.A.a. B. Green, R. London,
British Museum Press.
Tan, T.
(2006 (forthcoming). Ancient Jeweller~
of .6.Yrmg. Bangkok, Orchid Press.
Footnotes "
1 See
Nyunt Han et al. 2002 2 See Tan 2006
3 See
Moore 2006 (forthcoming)
4
Provisional suggestion from discussion
with Moore, 04.06
5 Nyein
Lwin 2004
