Monograph No. 35
MEMOIRS of THE NARA NATIONAL CULTURAL PROPERTIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE NUMBER V
CONTENTS
OKAMOTO Tozo: On the Mikoshiba-Chojakubo Culture 1
NISHI Hiromi: The Names and Functions of Nara Period Table Ware 59
YAMAMOTO Tadanao: On Masks with Facial Expressions of Protruding Tongues 89
ON THE MIKOSHIBA-CHOJAKUBO CULTURE
by OKAMOTO Tozo
Two divergent interpretations are current in regard to the nature of the pre-ceramic culture of Japan. One view, held by C. Serizawa and others, is based on l4C dating and assigns it to the Paleolithic (30,000-10,000 B.C.). The other view, espoused by S. Yamanouchi and T. Sato and based on comparisons with continental culture, assigns it to the non-ceramic Neolithic (5,000-2,500 B.C.). I am inclined to the latter view, basing my opinion on the large numbers of edge-ground celts excavated from pre-ceramic sites. Two types of these celts occur in sites of the Pre-ceramic period: in the first half of the period, the Southeast Asian-type celts are found in assemblages of the Iwajuku I and Knife-shaped tool cultures; then in the terminal Preceramic, Siberian-type celts are found in sites of the Mikoshiba-Chojakubo culture. In this paper, I hope todemonstrate, through analysis of the edge-ground celts of the Mikoshiba-Chojakubo cultures, that Japan’s pre-ceramic culture belongs to the Neolithic, as defined by the presence of polished stone implements.
The characteristic celts of the Mikoshiba-Chojakubo culture is large, thick adzes with triangular cross-section. More than 153 of these have been found at approximately 94 sites all over the country, from Hokkaido to Yamaguchi Prefecture; their distribution is densest in northeastern Japan, as would befit objects linked to the inflow of a Siberian culture (see PI. 1). These objects can be classified, according to the configuration of the cutting edge, as axe-type 両刃 (I), adze-type 片刃 (II), and gouge-type 円鑿 (III) (see Tab. 1). The terminal phase of the Pre-ceramic period can be said to represent the highest development of stone axes during Japan’s stone age.
In addition to edge-ground celts 局部磨製石斧, other stone implements of the Mikoshiba-Chojakubo culture includes bifacial points 尖頭器, arrow heads 石鏃, burin-scrapers 彫掻器, burins 彫器, end-scrapers 掻器, side-scrapers 削器, awls 錘, boat-shaped tools 舟底形石器, two platformed cores of the cylindrical type 両端に打面をもつ円筒形石核, disc-type cores 円盤形石核, and more (see PI.2~20). At Odai-Yamamoto I site in Aomori Prefecture and Ushirono site in Ibaragi Prefecture, rudimentary pottery has been found in association with artifacts of this culture. Further, at several sites belonging to this culture, special caches of large numbers of celts and bifacial points have been discovered. In addition, the positioning of sites indicates the possibility that riverine fishing was conducted. All of these factors point graphically to the presence of a Neolithic culture.
The Mikoshiba-Chojakubo culture is Japan's last pre-ceramic culture. It replaces a microblade culture and in turn is succeeded by the Incipient Jomon culture. As indicated by Yamanouchi and Sato, it seems most appropriate to draw analogies between Mikoshiba-Chojakubo and the Isakovo and Serovo periods in Siberia, which would indicate a dating of 3,000-2500 B.C. for Japan’s last pre-ceramic culture.
THE NAMES AND FUNCTIONS OF NARA PERIOD TABLE CERAMICS
by NISHI Hiromi
Most of the pottery excavated from the Nara period Heijo Palace site belongs to one or the other of two ceramic traditions: a reddish unglazed earthenware called Haji, or a hard-fired gray stoneware called Sue. An outstanding feature of this pottery is the incredible variety of shape-types but the extreme uniformity of dimensions within each type.
Two special components are the ceramic types based on the imitation of metal vessel shapes popular in the early seventh century and their transformation, and pottery types that evolved to serve the needs of the numerous bureaucratic strata which emerged with the developing Ritsuryo state in the late seventh century.
It is thought that most of the Nara period tableware was ceramic rather than metal in nature; through pottery excavated from ditches and disposal pits within the Nara period capital, the succession of the major ceramic shape-types is known as follows:
32 shape-types from ditch SD485 dating to 730 A.D.
27 shape-types from pit SK820 dating to 750 A.D.
19 shape-types from pit SK219 dating to 765 A.D.
18 shape-types from pits SK2113 and SK870 dating to 780 A.D.
According to Tab. 1 of pottery (some inscribed with inked characters) excavated from the Heijo Palace or other Nara period sites, the shape-type that we now call tsuki 杯 in archeological terminology is a broader category than in the Nara period; it includes not only the Nara period tsuki 杯, a shallow or small bowl-like vessel, but also a larger, deeper bowl called mari 椀 or mari 垸 in the Nara period. Similarly, the character 皿 (sara) is currently used to designate excavated plates, but in the Nara period, different characters were used for the same pronumciation of the word: 盤 (sara) or 佐良 (sara). For the general category of pedestaled bowls, the characters and pronunciation, 高杯 (takatsuki), remain the same, past and present. However, according to the Nara period documents of the Shosoin Repository, lidded and unlidded bowls were distinguished from each other during that period; they were written respectively as 椀 (mari) and 片椀 (katamari). Although, the type of ware (Haji bowls 土椀 hani no mari or Sue bowls 陶椀 sue no mari) was sometimes designated by the initial character of the shape name, it appears that vessels of the same shape and function were called by the same name, eg. 土水椀 hani no mizumari and 陶水椀 sue no mizumari.
From the archeological analysis of vessel shape combined with the information on contemporary vessel shape and function contained in the Shosoin Documents, we can make the following conclusions about the names and uses of the late Nara period pottery types: AI tsuki 杯 (including the old katamari 片椀), as well as wooden ke 笥 and oke 大笥 were used as eating bowls. BI tsuki 杯 (the old mari 椀) was a soup bowl. C tsuki 杯 (the former hira tsuki 平杯), the Haji tsuki 杯 AI, the Sue tsuki AIII (previously called kubo tsuki 窪杯) all functioned as serving dishes for sauced foods and soups. Haji All mari 椀 and C mari 椀 or Sue IV tsuki 杯 (formerly termed a shiotsuki 塩杯) were used for serving salt. Haji A sara 皿, Sue C sara 皿 (formerly called a sara 盤) and takatsuki 高杯 were all used for serving cakes and side dishes other than those with liquid contents.
ON MASKS WITH FACIAL EXPRESSIONS OF PROTRUDING TONGUES
by YAMAMOTO Tadanao
It’s the purpose of this article to elucidate the nature of those masks depicting strange animals or monsters with protruding tongues, which exist in almost all regions of the globe. The history of these masks can be traced from the seventh century B.C. down to the present. Among them are masks with roaring faces or some that are clearly licking their chops. However, the majority seem to be doing neither of these but simply sticking out their tongues for no apparent reason. The masks dealt with in this paper belong mainly to this latter category.
I have chosen as my point of departure to study variation in the masks of tongue-protruding beasts found in three areas: Japan, China and Greece. I hope to elucidate the concrete significance of such masks, and further, to arrive at a formal typology and a chronology for them. This should make possible for the first time a thorough-going comparative consideration of the tongue-protruding masks of each region.
Next, I consider the significance of such masks from various angles, now also taking up masks from regions other than the above-mentioned three areas. I conclude that such masks are found to fall into two groups: those associated with such characteristics as fear, terror and evil, and those concerning reproduction and resurrection.
Of the many questions arising from the above discussion, I deal in this paper with only two: the theory of cultural diffusion, and the nature of the oni-gawara or devil-faced roof tiles of Japan. I indicate some of the limitations of diffusion theory and propose a hypothesis for the origin of the devil-faced roof tiles in Japan.
Finally, I attempt to locate the tongue-protruding masks of Japan in light of the above discussions. They were either made in China or made under the influence of Chinese culture. Their direct ancestors are the masks used in Buddhist performing arts during the Northern Wei; and connections can be further traced back to the door fittings of the Han dynasty which depicted faces made of metal or clay.
昭和54年3月10日 発行
研究論集Ⅴ
奈良国立文化財研究所学報（第35冊）
