[Hida City, Gifu Prefecture] A Remarkable Achievement After 30 Years! 377 Items, Including Jomon Period "Sekibo" Prayer Tools Excavated in Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, to Become National Important Cultural Properties! Recognized for High Academic Value in Elucidating the Manufacturing Process

Hida City, Gifu Prefecture (Mayor: Junya Tsutsutake) announces that 377 items, including stone rods and Jomon pottery excavated from the city's Shima and Shioya Kinsei Shrine sites, 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 Crafts). This will be the 11th nationally designated cultural property in Hida City and the second National Important Cultural Property (Art and Crafts), following the "Artifacts from the Nakanoyamakoshi Site, Gifu Prefecture" (designated in 1996).

Agency for Cultural Affairs Website

Value as a "Sacred Site of Stone Rods"

The Shima and Shioya Kinsei Shrine sites, located in Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, are rare ruins that clearly preserve traces of the production of "sekibo" (stone rods), a representative ritual artifact of the Jomon period. Using locally sourced welded tuff (commonly known as Shioya stone), the entire process of stone rod production from approximately 4,500 years ago (Middle Jomon) to 3,500 years ago (Late/Final Jomon) was unearthed, along with unfinished products and tools (hammering stones and whetstones).

In this recommendation, the collection was deemed extremely valuable as a "standard reference" that systematically shows the transition of stone rod forms from large to small, in addition to the fact that the source of the raw materials has been identified.

Main Points of This Designation

・ Designated Quantity

377 items

【Main Designation】284 items: 171 stone rods, 113 tools (83 hammering stones, 30 whetstones)

【Attachments】93 items: 24 flakes, 11 raw stones, 53 Jomon pottery/earthenware products, 5 other stone tools

・ Complete Visualization of the Stone Rod Manufacturing Process

The availability of materials from each stage of production—"flaking," "percussion," and "polishing"—has revealed advanced processing techniques of the time, as well as the existence of a special process involving fire.

・ Evidence of Widespread Cultural Exchange

The co-excavation of Jomon pottery with characteristics from the Hokuriku, Shinshu, Kanto, and Western Japan regions proves that Hida has long been a crossroads of cultural exchange connecting various parts of Japan.

Explanation of the stone rod manufacturing process

The Significance of Becoming an Important Cultural Property

The Hida City Board of Education has been conducting a three-year investigation since fiscal year 2023.

The manufacturing process of stone rods, a representative ritual tool of the Jomon period, is...