Corso di Laurea magistrale a ciclo unico in Conservazione e Restauro dei Beni Culturali - SUSCOR

Organization: Università di Torino, BeArcheo, Okayama University

Prof. Toshio Nozaka
Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Okayama University
Okayama (Japan)

Petrological study of haniwa from the Kibi province: A challenge to unravel the Japanese prehistory

15 March, 2023
2.30 PM CET
Room Vallauri – Corso Massimo d'Azeglio,42 - Torino
Online (google meet): https://meet.google.com/ccm-vabr-dga

Haniwa is unglazed earthenware set around kofun, huge tumulus built during the Kofun period (3rd-7th centuries CE) of Japan.
The talk will report petrological characteristics, including chemical and mineralogical compositions, of haniwa shards excavated from some large kofuns in Okayama Prefecture, where the Kibi province, one of the biggest ancient kingdoms of Japan, prospered.
Such petrological studies allow us to infer the provenance of materials and firing conditions of haniwa, and could provide rigid bases for resolving archaeological issues under discussion, including the uniqueness of individual provinces, interaction between provinces, and the cultural and technological development of ancient Japanese society.