Vietnam National Museum of History

This guide to the Vietnam National Museum of History in Hanoi centers on a huge bronze drum unearthed by dike diggers in 1893 in a village southeast of the city, its surface carved with tiny scenes of dancers, birds and boats. You'll hear how French scholars named it after that village and brought it here, and why archaeologists rank it among the finest surviving works of the ancient Dong Son bronze casters. Look closely at the drum's flat top, where three rings of figures still circle a central sunburst.