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Geometric shapes became more common on bronze art during the late Yayoi period as rituals seemed to lose their hold on Yayoi society. |
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This is a rare find of ritually engraved rock from the Yayoi period. Rock and stone formations were more common during the earlier Jomon period. Was this a ritual site where people worshipped the god who was believed to reside in the rock? There are many examples from ancient times in Japan of worship that involved rocks or rock formations: "stone-kami" (ishigami), iwakura, and iwasaka. Many ancient shrines have developed around rituals where a god temporarily resides in the iwakura rock. |
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This "sun-like" face resembles the simple faces such as found on the pottery jar below. We do not know who the deity was but it differs considerably from the clearly female forms seen on earlier period Jomon pottery. |
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