Archaeology
1800-year-old ritual mask uncovered in Osaka Prefecture
In an announcement by the Osaka Centre for Cultural Heritage, archaeologists have uncovered an 1800-year-old ritual mask in the Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
The discovery was made during excavations to extend the Osaka Monorail in the city of Higashiōsaka, where the team found a mask hewn from a cedar tree with a representation of a human face.
The mask measures around 30cm in height by 18cm wide and features two eye holes, a mouth, and a perforated hole surviving on one side that probably held string for holding the mask on the wearers face.
The researchers suggest that the mask was used for ritual ceremonies during important agricultural festivals around 1800-years-ago during the Yayoi era. During this period, Japan transitioned to a settled agricultural society using agricultural methods that were introduced initially in the Kyushu region from Korea.
Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new Yayoi pottery styles, improved carpentry and architecture, and the start of an intensive rice agriculture in paddy fields.
The discovery is the third example of a wooden mask from this period and is similar to another mask found in the Makimuku ruins in the Nara Prefecture.
Kaoru Terasawa, director of the Research Centre for Makimukugaku, said: “I believe the mask represented a ‘spirit of a head,’ which was believed to be a god in the shape of a human and represented the authority of Okimi.”
The Okimi was the leader of the Yamato Kingship, a dominant political coalition comprising of influential clans based in what is now Nara Prefecture, which held sway from the third to the seventh century AD.
Excavations also revealed a wooden water bucket and a charred hoe-shaped wooden object in flood sediment 2.9 metres beneath the ground surface.
The mask will be displayed at the Museum of Yayoi Culture in Osaka Prefecture’s Izumi between April the 29th and May the 7th.
Header Image Credit : Osaka Centre for Cultural Heritage
Underwater archaeologists from Södertörn University, in collaboration with the CEMAS/Institute for Archaeology and Ancient Culture at Stockholm University, have conducted an investigation of the wreck of the royal flagship Gribshunden.
A diving club first discovered the wreck in the 1970’s at a depth of 10 m (33 ft), but unaware of the significance, the identity of the wreck wouldn’t be confirmed until 2013.
The wreck is internationally significant as the world’s best-preserved ship from the Age of Exploration – a proxy for the vessels of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama.
The Gribshunden was the flagship of Hans (John), King of Denmark, which after a large explosion in 1495, sank at anchor near the town of Ronneby, Sweden.
The ship was enroute to Kalmar from Copenhagen and was carrying the king for a summit with the Swedish council. At the time of the explosion, the king was ashore and suffered no injury, however, one contemporary account records 150 crewman dying in the tragic accident.
The Gribshunden sunk to a depth of just ten metres, meaning that the rigging was still above the water level and was partially accessible. Salvers boarded the ship and used rudimentary diving equipment to salvage some of the high-status belongings of the king and retinue.
Underwater archaeologists have recently conducted a non-intrusive survey of the wreck site using photography and 3D photogrammetry. This has provided new data for a digital reconstruction of the wreck and further insights into the ship’s superstructure.
Furthermore, the survey has provided details into the armaments still onboard and the present state of preservation of the timbers from the wreck structure.
According to a paper on the study: “The main focus of the investigation concerned the ship’s superstructure, and it can be stated that there are a large number of timbers and building parts which, after further reconstruction and interpretation, will give a more detailed picture of the ship’s superstructure”.
Header Image Credit : Rolf Fabricius Warming
Sources : Stockholms universitet
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
395 pre-Columbian artefacts have been repatriated to Costa Rica thanks to a grant by the United States Embassy to the Cultural Agreements Fund.
Among the objects repatriated is a stone sphere from the Diquís culture, an extinct people that emerged in the Valley of the Rio Grande de Térraba and produced over 300 stone petrospheres (also know as Diquís Spheres).
Between AD 800 to 1500, the Diquís civilisation reached its apex and developed complex settlements on the small island of Isla del Caño and the Diquís Delta in Costa Rica.
Stone spheres of up to two metres in diameter were placed in alignments in public plazas, or along the approach to the dwellings of the ruling elite/chieftains.
Image Credit : National Museum of Costa Rica
Since 2005, the National Museum of Costa Rica has developed the project “Archaeological investigations in sites with stone spheres, Delta del Diquís” aimed at the study of the pre-Columbian occupation of the delta, focusing particularly on archaeological sites with the presence of stone spheres.
According to the National Museum of Costa Rica, the repatriated sphere measures 65 centimetres in diameter and is likely made from gabbro, a phaneritic (coarse-grained) mafic intrusive igneous rock.
Also repatriated are ceramics with representations of animals and humans, metates that were used for ceremonies or to prepare food, stone tools, polychrome vessels, and precious seals and stones worn by various pre-Columbian cultures.
Cynthia Telles, United States Ambassador to Costa Rica, said: “Our two nations share a common belief about the importance of preserving and celebrating our unique histories. We recognise the value of these pieces as more than just objects, because they are an integral part of the identity of the Costa Rican people.”
Header Image Credit : National Museum of Costa Rica
Sources : National Museum of Costa Rica
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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