Clay Shaman of 1,500 Years Surfaces in Moat of Japanese Burial Mound

ISESAKI, JAPAN — Archaeologists in central Japan have recovered a clay figurine about 1,500 years old that, according to The Debrief, depicts a female shaman of the Kofun period, an era known for its grand burial mounds and its native spiritual traditions.

The object was found at Nishikaminomiya, in Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture. Excavations there began in 2020 as part of a river improvement project along the Tonegawa, and the team has detected 11 burial mounds. The largest, Tumulus No. 1, measures 49 meters in length and sits within an 18-meter-wide moat. The figure lay in that moat, having apparently tumbled from the southern end of the monument at some unknown time.

The piece is a haniwa, a type of unglazed terracotta figure that began as plain cylinders and later took the shapes of buildings, animals and people. This one is said to portray a miko, a shrine maiden or shaman associated with the older Shinto tradition. It stands roughly 41 centimeters tall, though its cylindrical base is missing. The head and torso survive, along with clay cords forming a topknot hairstyle, a bracelet on the right wrist, and ceremonial dress with a sash. In its left hand the figure holds a rod that archaeologists interpret as a possible ritual implement. Fine details and traces of pigment remain.

The report states that female ritual practitioners are believed to have held important roles in Kofun-period ceremonies, including communication with spiritual beings, and that finding such a figure in an elite burial setting may shed light on the standing of women of the time. It describes the figure as one of the oldest human-shaped haniwa of its kind found in the prefecture.

Fieldwork at the site has concluded. The figurine goes on display at the Gunma Prefectural Museum of History from October 28 through November 30.