A buckle, the cultural heritage known at the Rangnang Site
A buckle, the cultural heritage known at the Rakrang Site
Generally, the buckle is a metal ring for fixing the belt.
The ruling class of the Rangnang made the buckles and other accessories specially priced on gold and silver to demonstrate their prestige.
The shapes of buckles which have been excavated from the Rakrang graves are all wide and round in front with rings, and the back is somewhat narrow rectangular and about 10cm long.
In the front part, there is a lunette narrow, long hole for the buckle insertion and in the middle one ring to fix the buckle.
The buckles were also found in the Sokamri Tomb No. 9, Jongbaekdong Tomb No. 37, No. 92 and No. 2.
The buckle from the Sokamri Tomb No. 9 (a typical log tomb) was decorated with a narrow-grain gold granule and a thin gold thread, in which one adult dragon and six baby dragons were represented with gold granules.
And they were decorated with over 40 jewels.
The buckle of the Jongbakdong Tomb No.37 is a tiger patterned buckle with 12 blue jewels in its every points such as the tiger eyes embossed with a tiger held on four legs, in which was decorated with the silver granules, as small as a grain in the edges
The buckle of the Jongbakdong Tomb No.92 is depicted with a plump of mother dragon and baby dragon rising from the water tornado in the front and is embossed a pregnant bear and a gallipot on the pig in the back.
The mother dragon, baby dragon, pig, bear and etc. were gilded and 21 blue jewels were placed in every points including in the eyes of the animal.
The buckle from the Jongbakdong Tomb No. 2 was decorated with silver granules, as small as a grain in the edges and the tiger and dragon patterns were carved in it.
There are holes which were punched with jewels in the eyes and hips of the tiger and the dragon.