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Originally Posted by Mark
Bob Hudson, an Australian archeologist who excavates in Burma has told me that the Burmese are great recyclers, as well, which could also explain the scarcity of old metal objects that have out-lived their usefulness.
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I have read some of his paper on Bagan and Pyu excavations . The Burmese
are great recyclers : that is why I suggested that the dha with 2 dates may well be a composite of many parts and the embellishment may well be a genuine part from an older piece .
Similarly the Buddhist acceptance of the impermanence of material objects has resulted in a lack of sentimentality for things antique until recently when it seems there's an industry to "antique" any arts or craft to please the growing tourist and internal markets . The only thing preventing a widespread resurgence in dha making is the junta's suppression of the manufacture of anything that might be used against them
.
However the Burmese are resourceful . The weapon du jour in 1988 against the government troops by the people was not the dha but the
jin-gli ( sharpened bicycle spokes poisoned with faeces launched from hand catapults
)