The 'Ritualization' of Comma-Shaped Magatama Beads from the Jōmon to Yayoi Periods in Japan

Summary

Comma-shaped magatama beads in their 'archaic' forms and materials first appeared in the Early Jōmon period (ca. 5000 BC) in Japan, and in their 'standardized' form and material became a major component of grave goods for the elite burials that began to be constructed from the Yayoi period (ca. 400 BC) onward. The contexts in which magatama beads recently excavated at Early/Middle Jōmon sites have been found indicate that they were most likely ordinary body ornaments for everyday use. Their later essential role as grave goods in the elite burials after the Yayoi period was likely the result of a 'ritualized' process in which greater significance was attached to these beads through transformation from ordinary to more formalized contexts. Bridging these two phases, magatama beads in the Late/Final Jōmon period (ca. 2500-400 BC) may reflect the transitional process in which they were increasingly used in more formalized contexts, including domestic rituals, and their forms and materials progressively standardized.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

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