Magatama, curved jewellery and tubular necklace

OV-29/b1-15, OV-29/a1-18

Since the late Jōmon period polished and perforated hard and semi-precious stones were used as protective amulets against evil spirits in times of danger.  During the Yayoi period, the magatama assumed the characteristic comma shape and, during the subsequent Kofun period, necklaces made of jasper tubular elements (kutadama), constituted ornaments indicative of high social and religious conditions. Of great spiritual value, the magatama is still used as a ceremonial object in the Shinto context. Our finds, dating back to the 4th-6th century AD, were part of princely funerary artifacts from the Kofun period.