Skip to the content
Terminology

alligator drum

The alligator drum is a type of drum once used in Neolithic China, made from clay and alligator hides. Alligator drums have been found over a broad area at the Neolithic sites from modern Shandong in the east to Qinghai in the west, dating to a period of 5500–2350 BC. In literary records, drums manifested shamanistic characteristics and were often used in ritual ceremonies. Drums covered with alligator skin for ceremonial use are mentioned in the Shijing.

alligator drum

Name
Alligator drum
Field
drum · tubular drum

VALÉORINE Encyclopedia

VALÉORINE documentary reading

Documentary summary

The alligator drum is a type of drum once used in Neolithic China, made from clay and alligator hides. Alligator drums have been found over a broad area at the Neolithic sites from modern Shandong in the east to Qinghai in the west, dating to a period of 5500–2350 BC. In literary records, drums manifested shamanistic characteristics and were often used in ritual ceremonies. Drums covered with alligator skin for ceremonial use are mentioned in the Shijing.

Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE

Reference Check

Propose documentary evidence for alligator drum. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.

Sign in to contribute

Documentary evidence

Documentary basis

Authority files

wikidata · Q4732665 · wikipedia · Alligator drum

In this article

  1. 01Origins and development
  2. 02Archives and collections
  3. 03Notes, references and evidence

The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.

Elsewhere in Collectables

20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.

Read the complete collectables index

For owners

Own an object connected with alligator drum?

A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.