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Name : Doban - kun
What it is : A clay pill
A 3,500-year-old clay tablet known as Doban-kun was likely used in an ancient ritual.
Where it is from : Northern Honshu , Japan
When it was made : Around 1500 B.C.
bear on : Dancing dwarf : A 2,300 - class - old ancient Egyptian statue of a godlike man with a hefty 6 - pack
What it tells us about the past :
This pocket-sized , clay pad of paper was likely a tool used to perform ritual at two prehistoric stone band in northerly Japan over three millennia ago . The hollow were used for counting and were coif in the shape of a person .
Doban - kun , which intend " flat clay man " in Japanese , is 2.3 inches ( 5.8 centimeters ) tall and 1.5 inches ( 3.7 centimeter ) wide and weighs about 1.7 ounces ( 48.4 grams ) . It was feel near theŌyu Stone Circles , which were built by the Jōmon culture .
The Jōmon period sweep some 14000 to 300 B.C. Although there was no large - scale agriculture in this menstruum , the Jōmon civilization was largely sedentary and very complex , creating clayware , jewelry , statues and tools from a diversity of natural materials , such as gem , bones and antlers .
According to theŌyu Stone Circle Center , the site was created from dozens of river rocks around 2000 B.C. , in the previous Jōmon period . The two larger circuit were likely used in rite that helped strengthen social ties among the surrounding settlements , while the smaller circles were made to mark graves . The sundial - same arrangement of the stones evoke that the Jōmon people understand the move of the sun .
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legion small clay tablets were found during excavations at the stone lot over the preceding several decades , but Doban - kun is unique . researcher think it was created as a tool for counting . The declamatory hole , represent the person ’s mouth , is 1 ; the eyes are 2 ; the right side of the dresser is 3 ; the left side is 4 ; and the vertical assembly line of circles in the center of the bureau is 5 . band on theback of the chief represent 6 .
There is also a hole in the bottom center that connects to the rima oris yap via a channel through the clay body . This could intend that Doban - kun is a female figure , Doban - chan ( " unconditional clay woman " ) .
Either way , the tablet has a precious appearance , fit in to the Ōyu Stone Circle Center , which may have been a popular style at the time . But whether Doban - kun represents a 3,500 - year - honest-to-goodness lesson ofkawaii , or " cute culture , " is still up for disputation .
