Editing Magatama (section)

==Jōmon period==
{{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} first appeared in Japan in the [[Jōmon period|Final Jōmon period]] (1000–300 BCE), and in this period were made from relatively simple, naturally occurring materials, including [[clay]], [[talc]], [[slate]], [[quartz]], [[gneiss]], [[jadeite]], [[nephrite]], and [[serpentinite]].<ref name="nipponika">{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika) (日本大百科全書 (ニッポニカ)) | title = Magatama | url = http://rekishi.jkn21.com/| access-date = 2012-03-26 | year = 2012 | publisher = Shogakukan | location = Tokyo|language=ja}}</ref> {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} from the Jōmon period were irregularly shaped, lacked continuity in form from region to region, and have been called "[[Stone Age]] {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}" for this reason.<ref name="kokushi"/><ref name="nipponika"/> {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} are thought to be an imitation of the teeth of large animals, pierced with a hole, which are found in earlier Jōmon remains.<ref name="dijitaru-magatama">{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Dijitaru daijisen| title = Magatama | url = http://rekishi.jkn21.com/| access-date = 2012-04-01 | year = 2012 | publisher = Shogakukan | location = Tokyo|language=ja}}</ref> These resemble {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, but more recent scholarship indicates that these early Jōmon may have simply had a decorative function, and have no relationship to {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}.<ref name="nipponika"/> {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} in the Jōmon period appear to have moved from the purely decorative to having a status and ceremonial function by the end of the period.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Naumann | first = Nelly |author-link=Nelly Naumann | year = 2000 | title = Japanese prehistory: the material and spiritual culture of the Jōmon period | chapter = From early to middle Jōmon | series = Asien- und Afrika-Studien der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | volume = 6 | publisher = Harrassowitz |location=Wiesbaden | page = 18 | isbn = 9783447043298 | oclc = 45797690}}</ref> A "middle Jōmon exchange network" may have existed, whereby {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} were produced in regions where materials for their manufacture were readily plentiful. Jade and talc examples produced in bead-making villages located in present-day [[Itoigawa, Niigata]] have been found at a large number of sites along the northern coast, in the central mountains, and in [[Kantō region]].<ref name="barnes">{{Citation | last = Barnes | first = Gina Lee | year = 1999 | title = The rise of civilization in East Asia: the archaeology of China, Korea and Japan | edition = 1st paperback | publisher = Thames and Hudson |location= New York | isbn = 9780500279748 | oclc = 43664418}}</ref>{{rp|30}}

===Archaeological sites (Jōmon)===
Examples of {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} from the Jōmon period have been discovered in large numbers at the [[Kamegaoka Stone Age Site|Kamegaoka site]] in [[Tsugaru, Aomori|Tsugaru]], [[Aomori Prefecture]]. The Kamegaoka remains are among the largest known Jōmon settlement in Japan, and the {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, among other decorative objects found, may be an indicator of the high social status of the settlement.<ref name=aikens-jomon>{{cite book | last1 = Aikens | first1 = C. Melvin | last2 = Higuchi | first2 =Takayasu | title = Prehistory of Japan |location= New York | publisher = Academic Press | series = Studies in archaeology | chapter = The Jomon period | year = 1982 | isbn = 9780120452804 | oclc = 7738449}}</ref>{{rp|165}}

Other sites associated with the Kamegaoka settlement have yielded {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, including the Ōboriya [[midden|shell mound]], in the northwest corner of [[Ōfunato Bay]], which yielded a huge number of beads, as well as the [[Korekawa Site|Korekawa site]], near [[Hachinohe, Aomori|Hachinohe]], [[Aomori Prefecture]]. Remains from the Korekawa site can be seen at the [[Korekawa Archaeological Institution (Korekawa Jōmon Kan)|Korekawa Archaeological Museum]] in Hachinohe.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Naumann | first = Nelly | year = 2000 | title = Japanese prehistory: the material and spiritual culture of the Jōmon period | chapter = Final Jōmon in northeast Japan—the Kamegaoka culture | series = Asien- und Afrika-Studien der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | volume = 6 | publisher = Harrassowitz |location=Wiesbaden | page = 46 | isbn = 9783447043298 | oclc = 45797690}}</ref> Stone and clay {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} and {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}-like [[bead]]s have also been discovered at the Amataki site, [[Ninohe, Iwate|Ninohe]], [[Iwate Prefecture]], Osagata site, [[Ibaraki Prefecture]], and the [[Kō Site|Kou site]], [[Fujiidera, Osaka|Fujiidera]], [[Osaka Prefecture]].<ref name=aikens-jomon/>{{rp|173}} Numerous {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} at the Ōishi site, [[Bungo-ōno]], [[Ōita Prefecture]], [[Kyushu]] show signs of being used for ceremonial, rather than decorative, purposes.<ref name=aikens-jomon/>{{rp|181}}

The [[Sannai-Maruyama Site]], excavated 1992 in [[Aomori, Aomori|Aomori]], [[Aomori Prefecture]], yielded three large jade beads measuring {{convert|5.5|×|6.5|cm}}.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Naumann | first = Nelly | year = 2000 | title = Japanese prehistory: the material and spiritual culture of the Jōmon period | chapter = From early to middle Jōmon | series = Asien- und Afrika-Studien der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | volume = 6 | publisher = Harrassowitz |location=Wiesbaden | page = 15 | isbn = 9783447043298 | oclc = 45797690}}</ref>