Moko drums

Moko are bronze kettledrums from Alor Island, Indonesia.

While they have been found in several different locations in Indonesia, they are most famously associated with the island of Alor, where they have long been prized in ceremonial exchanges.

Later moko were made in China and Java and were brought to Alor in the 19th century.

However, it remains a mystery as to how the older Đông Sơn drums arrived in Alor.

In The People of Alor,[1] American anthropologist Cora Du Bois describes people burying mokos in hidden locations to avoid surrendering them to creditors or lending them to relatives.