Stone Bracelet

Burial Objects

Archaeologists have found numerous stone bracelets in burial chambers from the early Kofun period (250–552). Along with bronze mirrors, comma-shaped beads, and other stone and shell artifacts, the bracelets are generally associated with shamanistic practices. Armor and weaponry prominently appear in tombs later in the Kofun period and represent a shift toward objects that reflect the military and economic power base of the deceased.

Stone bracelets of the Kofun period were fashioned after the shell bracelets of the previous Yayoi period (300 BCE–250 CE). They were not worn by the deceased but were likely placed beside the body during funerary rituals, and may have reflected the shamanistic power of the deceased. Archaeologists have found some burial sites with more than fifty stone bracelets.

This is a type of bracelet known as ishikushiro (literally, “stone bracelet”), with a simple ring shape of perfect circular contour, decorated with striations and grooves.