An important bronze-using culture, called Dong Son, after one of its principal sites, appears about 700 on the Tonkin plain, in present northern Vietnam.

Dong-son artisans make frequent use of heavy, slightly square spirals in relief; other motifs include key patterns and rows of dots.

The Dong Son culture is linked to the Tibeto-Burman culture, the Dai culture in Yunnan and Laos, the Mon–Khmer cultures and the culture associated with the Plain of Jars in Laos.

Similar artifacts have been found in Cambodia along the Mekong River dating back to the fourth millennium BCE.

Dong Son influence is seen today throughout Southeast Asia, from the moko drum of Alor, Indonesia (suspected of originating with Dong Son bronze drums) to the design of keris knife.

To the south of the Dong Son culture is the proto-Cham Sa Huynh culture.