magatama
Sign in to saveright|thumb| dating from Jōmon period to 8th century thumb|right|Magatama from Kofun period（[[Tokyo National Museum）]]
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
13 sectionsContents
- Jōmon period
- Archaeological sites (Jōmon)
- Yayoi period
- Archaeological sites (Yayoi)
- Kofun period
- Archaeological sites (Kofun)
- Origin of magatama forms
- In Japanese mythology
- Yasakani no Magatama
- Usage in Ryūkyūan religion
- In popular culture
- See also
- References
right|thumb| dating from Jōmon period to 8th century thumb|right|Magatama from Kofun period（[[Tokyo National Museum）]]
are curved, comma-shaped beads that appeared in prehistoric Japan from the Final Jōmon period through the Kofun period, approximately 1000 BCE to the 6th century CE. The beads, also described as jewels, were made of stone and earthen materials in the early period, but by the end of the Kofun period were made almost exclusively of jade. originally served as decorative jewelry, but by the end of the Kofun period functioned as ceremonial and religious objects.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “magatama” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.