28 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

1,800-year-old wooden mask likely used in farm festivals found in Japan

Archaeologists have unearthed an almost perfectly preserved wooden mask from the early third century at the Nishi-Iwata ruins in Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

The discovery was announced by the Osaka Cultural for Heritage Center on April 24.

The discovery is the third example of a wooden mask from this period. Experts believe the artifact was important in influential agricultural festivals organized by powerful people at the time.

The wooden mask, hewn from a cedar tree, measures around 30cm in height by 18cm wide and features two eye holes, a mouth, and a perforated hole surviving on one side that probably held string for holding the mask on the wearers face.

The mask was found in flood sediment 2.9 meters below the surface of the ground. It was discovered next to a piece of a wooden water bucket and a wooden object in the shape of a hoe that had been burned. Experts believe the three items may well have featured in agricultural festivals.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Osaka Centre for Cultural Heritage
Photo: Osaka Centre for Cultural Heritage

According to the researchers, the mask may have been used in ceremonial rituals during significant agricultural festivals around 1800 years ago, during the Yayoi era. During this time, Japan transitioned to a settled agricultural society, employing agricultural methods introduced from Korea in the Kyushu region.

The mask was probably displayed at festivals because it is too heavy to wear, according to Kaoru Terasawa, director of the Research Center for Makimukugaku, Sakurai City, in Nara Prefecture.

Kaoru Terasawa, said: “I believe the mask represented a ‘spirit of a head,’ which was believed to be a god in the shape of a human and represented the authority of Okimi.”

Okimi is the title given to the ruler of the Yamato Kingship, a political alliance of powerful families centered in modern-day Nara Prefecture that ruled from the third to the seventh centuries.

The mask will be on display at the Museum of Yayoi Culture in Izumi, Osaka Prefecture, from April 29 to May 7.

Osaka Centre for Cultural Heritage

Related Articles

Hoysala temples inch closer towards UNESCO recognition

7 February 2022

7 February 2022

The Indian Union government recently proposed the Somanathapura temple in Mysuru district and Chennakeshava and Hoysaleshwara temples in Belur and...

Ancient Christian Mosaics Unearthed in İznik as Pope Leo XIV Prepares Historic Visit

18 May 2025

18 May 2025

A set of remarkably preserved mosaics, believed to date back to the early Christian era, have been discovered during foundation...

Ancient Latin texts written on papyrus reveal new information about the Roman world

11 January 2023

11 January 2023

Researchers funded by the European Union have deciphered ancient Latin texts written on papyrus. This work could reveal a lot...

Bronze Age Treasure Found in Swedish Forests

30 April 2021

30 April 2021

A man who studied the forest to make a map for the orienteering club in western Sweden made an incredible...

4,000-year-old War Memorial of Banat-Bazi in Syria

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Archaeologists have identified a memorial monument built before 2300 BC in the Banat-Bazi region in Syria. Known as the “White...

A 4000-Year-Old Seal Found in the prehistoric coastal site of Kalba on the Gulf of Oman

5 April 2024

5 April 2024

Archaeologists discovered a Gulf-type seal made of soft stone dating to the end of the third millennium BC at Kalba,...

An Etruscan Home Discovered in Corsica “First-Of-Its-Kind Find for the Island”

11 July 2024

11 July 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the first Etruscan domestic structure, dating to the 6th to 4th centuries BC, off the east coast...

World’s Oldest Place Name Signs

4 February 2021

4 February 2021

Throughout the history of the world, our interest and curiosity in ancient cultures and lives continue to increase day by...

First in Anatolian Archaeology, a 2,600-year-old Sacred Room and Stone Symbolizing the Goddess Kubaba Discovered at Oluz Höyük

29 November 2024

29 November 2024

Archaeologists have discovered a sacred room and stone from the Phrygian period, dating back 2,600 years, during excavations at the...

Naked Venus statue discovered in a Roman garbage dump in France

29 March 2023

29 March 2023

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventative Archaeological Research (Inrap) has been uncovered a trove of artifacts, including two...

Assyrian seal found in the ancient Kef Fortress built by the Urartians

18 November 2024

18 November 2024

An alabaster seal, believed to be from the Assyrian Empire and belonging to a nobleman, was discovered in the ancient...

Archaeologists discover 1,300-year-old ski trapped in Norwegian ice

6 October 2021

6 October 2021

The melting of an ice sheet in Norway has uncovered a pair of remarkably well-preserved skis that had been undisturbed...

Archaeologists may have discovered the site where Otto the Great, founder of the Holy Roman Empire, died

5 October 2023

5 October 2023

Archaeologists believe they have found the site where Emperor Otto I (936-973), known as the Great, founder of the Holy...

Excavations Near Stonehenge Uncover Bronze Age Barrow Cemetery

4 June 2023

4 June 2023

The Cotswold Archeology team excavating at the site of a planned housing development near Salisbury, England, has unearthed a giant...

Hidden Roman Passage Unearthed Beneath Split: A Secret Gateway into Diocletian’s Palace Revealed

23 June 2025

23 June 2025

A groundbreaking discovery beneath Hrvojeva Street, near Diocletian’s Palace, is reshaping our understanding of Roman life and architecture in the...