Stone Axe with Hornlike Protrusions (Yūkaku sekifu)

Japan

Final Jōmon period (ca. 1000–300 BCE)

Not on view

This exceedingly rare archaeological artifact—coincidentally resembling the Egyptian hieroglyph anhk, symbolizing “life”—appears to have had a ritual rather than practical function. Only a handful of other similar examples have been published, dated mostly to the mid-Yayoi period based on proximity to datable material in excavation sites in Chiba, Kanagawa, and the Tōhoku region

Stone Axe with Hornlike Protrusions  (Yūkaku sekifu), Stone, Japan

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