Some Remarks concerning Jomon Religion

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  • 縄文時代の若干の宗教的観念について
  • ジョウモン ジダイ ノ ジャッカン ノ シュウキョウテキ カンネン ニ ツイテ

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Though mostly spoken of only in generalizations, it is commonly accepted that Jomon clay figurines bear some religious significance. By elucidating the hidden meaning of these figurines we should, therefore, be able to gain insight into the religious thoughts of Jomon people. This study is a first attempt in this direction. Because only a detailed interpretation can serve this purpose, a very small number of figurines coming from a locally and temporally limited area are taken into consideration, namely figurines of the Katsusaka type of pottery (in a broad sense) of the Middle Jomon period. Some features of these figurines are also present in the pottery of the neolithic Yang-shao culture of China as well as in the pottery of precolumbian America. The face of the "weeping deity" is even present in one of the oldest ceramic cultures of Mesopotamia. This "weeping deity" is sometimes connected with the serpent, as is the case with a small figurine from Tonai (Nagano). There is evidence that the iconographic unity presented by these figurines - consisting in an uplifted, dishlike, sunken face, nose and connected eyebrows slightly raised and strokes leading down from the eyes, while a serpent may be coiled up on the head - represents a moon deity.

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