Pierced earrings

These earrings were fashionable primarily in the Kantō and Chūbu regions from the mid to end Jōmon Period (around 3,500-5,000 years ago). During this period of time, there was a custom of wearing earrings of various sizes, and Japanese archaeolosists believe that people wore larger earring sizes as they became older. The earrings pictured here are small earrings made from deer antlers, but there were also elaborate earthenware earrings that typically had a diameter of more than 5 cm. Many of these types of earrings were coated with red lacquer.