The techniques employed are of very different kinds, and naturally vary according to the material used: stone is cut, wood, bone and ivory carved, fabrics skillfully woven and dyed, metals cast, corroded, engraved, incrusted, chased and finished; parchment beaten, and so forth.

On closer examination we are very forcibly struck by the great variety of styles which are to be found in Indonesia, especially in the field of decorative art. One of the most important reasons for this phenomenon may perhaps be the diverse cultural influences from abroad.

R. von Heine-Geldern writes on these questions: "the 8th century B.C. was one of those periods of unrest which from time to time shook ancient Asia and Europe and during which large groups of tribes, torn from their homelands, migrated over the vast expanses of the Old 'World. At that particular period tribes from the Caucasian region, from South Russia, and from the lower Danubian countries - moved eastward. Some of them settled in Central Asia, some entered China, while others branched off toward the South and by way of Szechwan and Yunnan eventually reached northern Indo-China. In China and Indo-China they were soon absorbed by the local population, however not before they had introduced various new forms of tools, weapons, and ornaments and, above all, their own style of art. The latter was a late branch of the Mycenean style which in their lands of origin had survived 'long after it had disappeared from Greece and the Aegean region. It was a highly decorative style, abounding in spirals, curvilinear designs, and meanders.