Post by Marsrocks on Feb 21, 2011 22:32:19 GMT -5
Mysterious Stones at Asuka
Asuka has many mysteriously-shaped stone objects, whose original purposes are still being debated by scholars. The Masuda Iwafune stone weighs 800 tons and has two 1.3-meter-deep square holes carved on the top. No one knows the purpose of the stone or how it got to the top of the hill where it stands.
The Kameisha Stone sits in the middle of a rice field. Some say it looks like a tortoise. Others say it looks like a toad. Both of these animal were sacred in the Asuka period yet the purpose of the stone remains unknown. There are four Saruisha (monkey-shaped stones) in Asuka. Three of these have a faces carved on both the front and back of the head.
The Sakafuneishi stone is a huge 5.5-meter-long granite rock with pits and channels chiseled out in it. Some have speculated it may have been used to make sake (rice wine). Others say the drainage gutters and round hollows on the top were part of a system of running water. A turtle-shaped stone excavated at the site in 2000 is believed to be part of a structure for pouring and storing water used by people to cleanse themselves before entering a palace. A pattern carved in the stone may be related the position of the sun during the spring and autumn equinoxes.
factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=488&catid=16&subcatid=105
Asuka has many mysteriously-shaped stone objects, whose original purposes are still being debated by scholars. The Masuda Iwafune stone weighs 800 tons and has two 1.3-meter-deep square holes carved on the top. No one knows the purpose of the stone or how it got to the top of the hill where it stands.
The Kameisha Stone sits in the middle of a rice field. Some say it looks like a tortoise. Others say it looks like a toad. Both of these animal were sacred in the Asuka period yet the purpose of the stone remains unknown. There are four Saruisha (monkey-shaped stones) in Asuka. Three of these have a faces carved on both the front and back of the head.
The Sakafuneishi stone is a huge 5.5-meter-long granite rock with pits and channels chiseled out in it. Some have speculated it may have been used to make sake (rice wine). Others say the drainage gutters and round hollows on the top were part of a system of running water. A turtle-shaped stone excavated at the site in 2000 is believed to be part of a structure for pouring and storing water used by people to cleanse themselves before entering a palace. A pattern carved in the stone may be related the position of the sun during the spring and autumn equinoxes.
factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=488&catid=16&subcatid=105
