The Archaeology of Religion and Ritual in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago

Kaner, Simon (2011) The Archaeology of Religion and Ritual in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago. In: The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion. Oxford Handbooks . Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199232444

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Abstract

This article reviews the evidence and interpretation of the development of ritual traditions in the prehistoric Japanese archipelago prior to the appearance of Buddhism in mid-sixth century ad. Key sites and materials are selected from the Jomon period (c.14,000 bc–c.500 bc), the Yayoi period (c.500 bc–ad 300), and the Kofun period (ad 300–710). While introducing a series of key sites, the article adopts a thematic approach to evidence for religious activity in the Japanese archipelago including: cosmology; the transformative qualities of ‘ritual’ material culture; evidence for ‘ritual specialists’; the existence of generative schema behind the diversity of ritual traditions; monumentality; the ritualization of the expression of human-animal relationships; and the ritual expression of transitions during the life cycles of individuals and communities

Item Type: Book Section
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Centres > Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures
Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Centre for Japanese Studies
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 05 Feb 2014 11:58
Last Modified: 16 Jun 2026 20:07
URI: https://uea-test-2026.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/44877
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232444.013.0030

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