While excavating a fourth-century tomb in Japan’s Nara Prefecture, a team of researchers made some “unprecedented and exciting” new discoveries: a massive, seven-foot dāko iron sword and a “magical” bronze mirror shaped like a shield.
As The Japan Times reports, both items were found at the Tomio Maruyama burial mound, which dates to the Kofun period (circa 300-538 C.E.). They were unearthed last November during an archaeological dig, and researchers are now saying they can be classified as national treasures.
The seven-foot sword is the largest of its kind found in Japan, and the shield-shaped mirror is the first ever discovered in the country. Each was buried in clay above the body of the deceased.
Nara City Board Of Education/KyodoThe bronze, decorative mirror found at the Tomio Maruyama burial mound is decorated with designs of creatures from Japanese folklore.
“[These discoveries] indicate that the technology of the Kofun period are beyond what had been imagined,” said Kosaku Okabayashi, deputy director for the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, “…[T]hey are masterpieces in metalwork from that period.”
That period, the Kofun period, is in fact named for the kofun tomb mounds built for members of Japan’s ruling class. The Tomio Maruyama burial mound is the largest in Japan, believed to have belonged to members of the Japanese ruling class during the late fourth century.
More than 80 dāko swords have been discovered throughout Japan in the past, but this recent find happens to be the largest known example of such a weapon. It is characterized by its wavy, snake-like shape from which its name is derived.
Nara City Board of Education/KyodoThe massive dāko sword discovered at the burial mound.
These swords were often used as burial goods, and mirrors and shields were considered to protect the dead from evil spirits. According to Kyodo News, it’s possible that dāko swords were buried with the deceased to be used as weapons against those very same spirits, with their large size meant to enhance their power.
As Nara University professor of archaeology Naohiro Toyoshima explained, the burial chamber where the sword and mirror were found likely belonged to someone involved in military and ritualistic matters.
Riku Murase, a member of the excavation team responsible for the discoveries, also expressed that the team was initially so stunned by the sword’s size that they thought it may have been several swords
Nara City Board of Education/KyodoA group at the Tomio Maruyama mound in Nara Prefecture, Japan, where the discoveries were made.
They also didn’t realize, at first, that they had found a mirror, instead believing that the artifact was a unique bronze plate.
“It was my dream to dig up a mirror,” he said. “Who knew that it would be something so incredible?”
The excavation site was open to the public on January 28th and 29th, but the sword and mirror are currently undergoing restoration and have not yet been made available for public viewing.