<論説>単竜・単鳳環頭大刀の編年

Abstract

装飾付大刀は、古墳時代後期に各地の豪族が権威の象徴として身につけていたと思われる、特別な意味をもつ遺物であり、本稿でとりあげる単竜・単鳳環頭大刀も、そのような装飾付大刀の一種である。本稿は、単竜・単鳳環頭大刀の環内に見られる竜や鳳凰の文様と、環に施された竜文などの型式学的分析を通じ、その年代を明らかにしようとするものである。日本出土の単竜・単鳳環頭大刀は、百済武寧王陵出土単竜環頭大刀の系譜につながり、しだいにその文様が崩れてゆく過程をたどることができる。そこで、武寧王陵の年代と、日本出土資料に伴出する須恵器の編年を考えあわせるならば、単竜・単鳳環頭大刀の盛行期は六世紀中葉から末と推定される。これを双竜環頭大刀や頭椎大刀など、他の種類の装飾付大刀の編年と結びつけるならば、本稿の考察は 古墳時代後期の地方豪族の動向と兵制の実態を考える上で有効な一つの材料となるであろう。

The decorated swords which were worn by members of powerful family of the Late Tumulus Period as a symbol of authority were significant remains. In this article I discuss a kind of such swords, the Tanryū- 単竜 or Tanpō- 単鳳 ring-pommeled swords, and try to clarify the date of them through typological analysis of patterns of the Ryū 竜 or the Hōō 鳳凰 in the ring and the Ryūmon 竜文 on the ring. The Tanryū- or Tanpō-ring-pommeled swords excavated in Japan have relation to the Tanryū-ring-pommeled swords excavated from the mausoleum of the Paekche's Munyong Wang 百済武寧王 and we can trace the process in which their original patterns were getting out of shape. So taking into consideration the date of the mausoleum of the Paekche's Munyong Wang and the chronology of the Sué pottery associated with the Japanese ring-pommeled swords, we can infer that from the middle to the end of the 6th century the Tanryū- or Tanpō-ring-pommeled swords were most widely spread. Further, considering this inference in relation to the chronology of other decorated swords (for example, the Sōryū- 双竜 ring-pommeled swords or the Kabutsuchi- 頭椎 swords), the investigation of this article will be useful for considering the conditions of the local powerful families and of the military system in the Late Tumulus Period.