"Precious Metals in early South East Asia" explores the subject of gold in ancient Indonesian civilizations along several, highly varied avenues, emphasizing how important an interdisciplinary approach is to furthering knowledge about these and later cultures and societies. Each speciality, whether archaeometry, archaeology, art history or anthropology, has a valuable contribution to make, filling in its own specific details in the picture as a whole. Gold in ancient Indonesia is a difficult subject because the objects are mostly found in hoards, thus out of context. We are just beginning to correlate written sources with the reliefs on the remaining buildings; this has the potential to increase our understanding of the objects found in the process of preserving this fast-disappearing cultural heritage. The attraction of gold as a superior metal still exercises its sway as it did of old, making it an exciting means for future generations to relate to the past.