A remarkable achievement after 30 years! 377 items, including "sekibo" (stone rods), Jomon period prayer tools excavated in Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, have been designated as National Important Cultural Properties! They have been recognized for their high academic value as materials that clarify the manufacturing process.

Hida City, Gifu Prefecture (Mayor: Junya Tsuduki) announces that 377 items, including stone rods and Jomon pottery excavated from the Shima Ruins and Shioya Kinsei Shrine Ruins within the city, have been recommended by the Council for Cultural Affairs to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for designation as National Important Cultural Properties (Art and Craftworks). This designation will be the 11th nationally designated cultural property in Hida City and the second National Important Cultural Property (Art and Craftworks), following the "Excavated Articles from the Nakanoyamago-e Ruins in Gifu Prefecture" (designated in 1996).

Agency for Cultural Affairs Website Value as a "Sacred Site for Stone Rods" The Shima Ruins and Shioya Kinsei Shrine Ruins, located in Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, are rare sites that clearly preserve traces of the production of "sekibo" (stone rods), a representative ritual object of the Jomon period. Using welded tuff (commonly known as Shioya stone) collected nearby, the process of stone rod production from about 4,500 years ago (Middle Jomon) to 3,500 years ago (Late and Final Jomon) was excavated all at once, along with unfinished products and tools (hammer stones and whetstones). In this recommendation, in addition to the fact that the source of the materials has been identified, the artifacts were evaluated as having extremely high value as "standard materials" that systematically show the transition process of the stone rods' form from large to small. Main Points of this Designation ・Designated Quantity 377 items [Main Designation] 284 items: 171 stone rods, 113 tools (83 hammer stones, 30 whetstones) [Attachments] 93 items: 24 flakes, 11 raw stones, 53 Jomon pottery and clay products, 5 other stone tools

・Complete Visualization of the Stone Rod Production Process Materials from each production stage—"flaking," "hammering," and "polishing"—are present, revealing the advanced processing techniques of the time and the existence of a special process involving fire.

・Evidence of Wide-ranging Cultural Exchange Jomon pottery with characteristics from the Hokuriku, Shinshu, Kanto, and Western Japan regions were unearthed together. This proves that Hida has long been a crossroads of cultural exchange connecting various parts of Japan.

Explanation of the stone rod production process

Significance of Becoming an Important Cultural Property The Hida City Board of Education has been conducting a three-year investigation since the 2023 fiscal year. The production process of stone rods, a representative ritual tool of the Jomon period...