Introduction and spread of ritual use of weapons and armor

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K00983
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03050:Archaeology-related
• Research Institution: Gangoji Institute for Research of Cultural Property
• Principal Investigator: TSUKAMOTO TOSHIO 公益財団法人元興寺文化財研究所, 研究部, 研究員 (30241269)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 武器祭祀 / 武具祭祀 / 小札 / 鉄鉾 / 鍬先 / 人形 / 剣鉾の祭り / 祇園祭

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we investigated the actual use of weapons and armor not only as soldiers but also as ceremonial objects, and clarified that it can be traced back to the Yayoi period. Furthermore, we found that the genealogy of weapons rituals, which are not mentioned in documents, can be found in the Baekje region of the Korean peninsula. Furthermore, from the fact that weapons and armor rituals have flourished in a wide area from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south since the Middle Ages, we found that weapons and armor were not only prestige goods that represented the authority of the time, but also that parts of weapons and armor were important trading goods that supported foreign trade and defined border areas in the Japanese archipelago. We also clarified part of the actual situation in which weapons were used in the Kenboko festival, and spread throughout the country in the Middle Ages along with the spread of the Gion Festival.

Free Research Field

考古学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

今回扱う武器・武具やその部品は、埋土中で出土する場合が多く、発掘調査の過程で見落とされ、混入品として正確な記録がない場合が多く、評価できない資料がほとんどである。しかし、出土状況の写真が残っていると評価が一変する場合があり、埋もれた資料を再発掘して再整理をすることの意義は大きい。また、保存修理や分析技術の進展で錆化有機質情報の解明が進み、今まで錆と認識されてきたものが有機質の痕跡であることがわかり、どのような状態で埋納または破棄されたかがわかってきた。それにより、儀仗用として、再利用する際に、外されたり、紐や布や植物で巻かれて埋納される場合があることが確認できる意義は大きい。