28 May 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.

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

Homo Sapiens are older than we previously thought

16 January 2022

16 January 2022

Researchers have discovered that Omo I skeletons, previously thought to be less than 200,000 years old, are 230,000 years old....

2,000-year-old Roman pewter hoard discovered in Suffolk

4 July 2023

4 July 2023

A rare hoard of Roman pewter has been discovered in Euston, western Suffolk, in eastern England. The rare discovery includes...

The Bronze Sacred Sanxingdui Tree Number 3 is Being Restored

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

According to the announcement of the Sanxingdui Museum, archaeologists have begun to assemble and restore the No. 3 bronze sacred...

Magnificent Discovery: A Major Tomb Filled with Gold and Ceramic Artifacts was Discovered in Panama

3 March 2024

3 March 2024

In an archaeological find in the El Caño Archaeological Park, located in the district of Natá, province of Coclé, in...

Hittite Royal Seal Warns ‘Whoever Breaks This Will Die’

7 July 2024

7 July 2024

During the excavations in Kırıkkale, a cuneiform seal used by the royal family during the Hittite Empire was unearthed. The...

10,500-year-old stone Age Hunter-Gatherer settlement found in England

20 January 2023

20 January 2023

A team of archaeologists from the University of Chester and Manchester has discovered a stone age Hunter-Gatherer settlement during excavations...

1500-year-old Amulet Made to Ward off the Evil Eye in Galilee

26 May 2021

26 May 2021

Discovered about 40 years ago in the Galilee village of Arbel, the necklace sheds light on life 1500 years ago....

An Avar Warrior Buried with Lamellar Armor and Equipment Discovered in Hungary

3 February 2024

3 February 2024

Archaeologists of the Déri Museum in Debrecen (eastern Hungary) found the tomb of a fully armed and with a complete...

Deadly Omens Revealed from 4,000-year-old Babylonian Tablets

10 August 2024

10 August 2024

Researchers successfully deciphered 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets discovered over a century ago in what is now Iraq.  The tablets, housed at...

The First Dinosaurs Discovered in Japan From the Late Cretaceous Period

30 April 2021

30 April 2021

Yamatosaurus Izanagii, a new genus, and species of hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaur have been discovered on one of Japan’s southern...

Numerous Statue Fragments Unearthed at Lost Apollo Sanctuary in Cyprus!

29 April 2025

29 April 2025

The Sanctuary of Apollo at Frangissa, located near ancient Tamassos and lost for approximately 140 years, has been rediscovered through...

‘Nano lime’ protects Nemrut: Throne of the Gods

24 October 2023

24 October 2023

Last year, “nano lime” was filled with syringes to protect the tiny cracks on the large stone statues on Mount...

Huge Ancient Roman Public Baths in ‘Excellent’ State Discovered in Augusta Emerita

23 July 2023

23 July 2023

In Mérida, Spain, archaeologists have discovered a “massive” Roman bathing site in “excellent” condition. The discovery was found in the...

Roman era total of 46 early settler burials discovered in Germany

17 September 2023

17 September 2023

Students from Goethe University Frankfurt, in collaboration with the Hesse archeology department at the Darmstadt branch of the State Monument...

Archaeologists Discover 40,000-Year-Old Evidence of Neanderthal Habitation in Ghamari Cave, Iran

13 March 2025

13 March 2025

Iranian archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery in Ghamari Cave (also known as Qamari Cave), located near Khorramabad in Lorestan...