, sometimes translated as "hoe-shaped stones", "hoe-shaped bracelets", or "plough-shaped stones", are a type of archaeological artefact known from Kofun-period Japan.
Overview Kuwagata-ishi take the form of a stone bracelet in the shape of the blade of a hoe. Their development has been traced back to shell bracelets and/or armlets of the Yayoi period. Alongside sharin-seki ("carriage-wheel stones") and ("stone bracelets"), kuwagata-ishi are one of the three types of bracelet-shaped stone artefact known in large numbers from kofun of the early- to mid-Kofun period. While they may have been worn as pendants, it is thought their primary function was to serve as grave goods.
National Treasures A series of twenty-four fourth-century jasper kuwagata-ishi from in Tenri, Nara Prefecture, is among the assemblage of objects (including the Tōdaijiyama Sword) from the tumulus designated a National Treasure in 2017 and now at Tokyo National Museum.
Gallery
See also
List of National Treasures of Japan (archaeological materials) Kofun system
References