07 · Sound · calling or warding off spirits

Eight voices in one hand

The ritual bells of Daegok-ri

Eight small bells surround the central disc; moving the piece could make them sound together.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of the Ritual Bells of Daegok-ri, Daegok-ri, Hwasun, South Jeolla, 3rd–2nd centuries BCE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

**DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

One piece from Daegok-ri has eight bells with clappers around a central body. Findings in pairs suggest that a person could hold one in each hand and produce coordinated sound during a ceremony.

The museum interprets that these bells called or warded off spirits and other pieces relate to agricultural festivals. We do not know melodies or words; yes, we can reconstruct the gesture, the weight and the vibration as part of a performative authority.

The eight-armed bells retain small clappers and were found in pairs, allowing us to imagine a bilateral gesture. Other double bells from the same assemblage expanded the timbre repertoire available for a ceremony.

The sound disappeared from the site but is not completely inaccessible: dimensions, alloy and movement allow controlled experimentation with replicas. What cannot be recovered is the ritual sequence nor whether the public interpreted the sound as call, protection or authority.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: The National Museum of Korea records eight bells with clappers, found in Daegok-ri and probable use in pairs. Interpretation and caution: exact purpose, identity of the officiant and content of the rite are not written. Expanded documented fact: National Museum of Korea files document eight-armed bells, double examples and their funerary association. Expanded interpretation and caution: Do not invent melody, dance or specific deities; the explanation of spirits and agriculture is interpretive.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: 3rd–2nd centuries BCE
Location: Daegok-ri, Hwasun, South Jeolla
Material: Cast bronze
Context: Early Iron Age ritual instrument
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Arrangement: Eight clappered bells surround the body of each hand bell.
Use in pairs: The paired finding allows simultaneous execution, although it does not demonstrate it.
Material: An alloy with more tin favoured brightness and sound compared to the daggers richer in copper.
Documentary coverage: 3 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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3rd–2nd centuries BCE

Eight voices in one hand

Gojoseon and early Korea

Approximate dating according to the record.

Current record

Bronze23 dated objects

17 / 23In the centre: Eight voices in one hand

Also connected, without a comparable date (6)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Daegok-ri grave goodsGojoseon and early Korea · from c. 5th century BCE
Early metallurgyAncient China · c. 1900–1500 BCE
Four offerersIberians · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue
Iron changes the frontierGojoseon and early Korea · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE
The workshop inside the ditchYayoi Japan · 4th century BCE–3rd century CE, peak in Middle and Late Yayoi
Weapons under the LakeCeltic worlds · Mainly 3rd–1st centuries BCE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Musical instruments

Hohle Fels flute · ≈35,000–40,000 years · Prehistory
Queen's Lyre · ca. 2600–2500 BCE · Sumer
The Gallery of the Conch Shells · Main use c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Eight voices in one hand · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea — You are viewing
Thirty-nine buried bells · Buried towards the 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
19th-century kora · 19th century · Mande Worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Daegok-ri grave goods · from c. 5th century BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Living m’bolon · The present with historical memory · Mande Worlds
Musical bows · Twentieth-century ethnomusicological documentation · San histories
Sosso-Bala · Tradition linked through narrative to the 13th century; the present instrument and its custodianship have their own chronology · Mande Worlds
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians

Music

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Dance with weapons · Towards 400 BCE. Xenophon's story · Thracians
Healing dance · Recordings 1968–1972 · San histories
Living m’bolon · The present with historical memory · Mande Worlds
Musical bows · Twentieth-century ethnomusicological documentation · San histories
Sosso-Bala · Tradition linked through narrative to the 13th century; the present instrument and its custodianship have their own chronology · Mande Worlds
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians

Casting

Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Jue · c. sixteenth century BCE · Ancient China
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Liding · 12th–11th centuries BCE · Ancient China
Talayotic sword · ≈1200–1000 BCE · destruction of the talayot towards 790 BCE · Iberians
The lute-shaped dagger · Towards 1000–400 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
The great Greek krater of Vix · ≈530–500 BCE · Greek worlds
Scorțaru cauldron · 6th–5th centuries BCE · Thracians
A battle on a comb · Early 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
The blade became straight · 5th–1st centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Geometry in very fine lines · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Eight voices in one hand · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea — You are viewing
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
A sky over the liver · End of the second–beginning of the first century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Thirty-nine buried bells · Buried towards the 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Early metallurgy · c. 1900–1500 BCE · Ancient China
Four offerers · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue · Iberians
Piece-mold casting · c. 1600–1046 BCE · Ancient China

Worship and offerings

Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Worshiper of Tell Asmar · Towards 2900–2600 BCE · Sumer
Statue of Ebih-Il · Towards 2400 BCE · Sumer
Before Phoenicia · 20th–18th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Jue · c. sixteenth century BCE · Ancient China
Rubber before the stadium · c. 1600–1200 BCE for the oldest specimens · Maya worlds
Wooden faces · c. 1600–1000 BCE, in several phases · Maya worlds
Liding · 12th–11th centuries BCE · Ancient China
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
The invisible mosaic · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Offering 4 · c. 800–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Uni was also Astarte · Towards 510 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Eight voices in one hand · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea — You are viewing
Thirty-nine buried bells · Buried towards the 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Betatun altar · 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

A repertoire that replaced other objects

The study Changing Components of Power situates Daegok-ri alongside Gubong-ri and Chopo-ri in a funerary phase in which bells replaced certain ritual objects of unknown function that were present earlier. It also highlights the frequency of engraving instruments among grave goods. The association adds a temporal dimension to sound: the bells were part of a changing selection of objects used to represent authority. Their presence does not allow recovery of a melody, but comparing them with earlier and later deposits shows when certain ritual supports gained prominence and when they ceased to accompany the dead.

Research · Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology · Changing Components of Power among Ancient Chiefs in the Korean PeninsulaAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

LOCATED SITE

Daegok-ri/Hwasun · KoreaMegalithic landscape marker.

Where it is held

National Museum of Korea

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

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Eight voices in one hand

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Eight voices in one hand

Jue

Bull-leaping

Fu Hao’s burial goods

Liding

Talayotic sword

Tribute to Assyria

Before Etruscans and Rome

The lute-shaped dagger

Kushite king

The great Greek krater of Vix

Scorțaru cauldron

Vix Tomb

Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere

A coin with the memory of a blade

The blade became straight

Geometry in very fine lines

Eight voices in one hand

The Shield that Did Not Fight

Fibula from Lancia

A sky over the liver

Hand of Irulegui

Thirty-nine buried bells

Torreáguila fountain spout

A closer look

A repertoire that replaced other objects

Location and territory

Where it is held

National Museum of Korea

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?