Stone sickle - Ishigama

A type of ground stone tool. It is a stone tool made by grinding sedimentary rocks such as slate and shale, and is similar to modern iron sickles. It is thought to have been used for picking grain, but compared to stone knives for the same purpose, its distribution area is narrow and very few examples have been excavated. A few fragments of the same type of bronze and iron products have been discovered at Yayoi culture ruins. Similar ground stone tools have also been discovered on the Korean Peninsula and in the Henan and Hebei provinces of mainland China, and it is thought that this type of stone tool was introduced from the mainland via the Korean Peninsula during the Yayoi culture period along with bronze products, but was only used in parts of northwestern Kyushu. Some are curved like a sickle, with one end pointed and the other square, and both sides near the ends are hollowed out to make it easier to tie to the handle with a string.

[Esaka Teruya]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

磨製石器の一種。粘板岩、頁岩(けつがん)などの水成岩質の岩石を研磨し、現在の鉄製鎌に類似した石器。穀類の穂つみ用具と考えられるが、同用途の石包丁と比較すると、分布圏も狭く、出土例もきわめて少ない。同型の青銅品、鉄製品も弥生(やよい)文化の遺跡で1、2の破片が発見されている。朝鮮半島、中国大陸河南・河北省方面からも類似の磨製石器の発見があり、この型の石器は、弥生文化の時代に大陸から朝鮮半島を経て、青銅製品とともに渡来したが、西北九州の一部で使用されただけであったと考えられる。鎌のように反りのあるものもあり、一端は先がとがり、他端は方形で、端部に近い両側にはえぐり込みがあり、紐(ひも)で柄部へ結び付きやすくしてある。

［江坂輝彌］

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