<論説>銅剣生産の展開

Abstract

弥生時代、個人的威信財あるいは共同体祭器として用いられた銅剣は、その生産と流通が弥生社会維持に不可欠のものと考えられ、弥生社会の動態を探る有効な考古資料である。本論考では、その生産の様相を明らかにするためにまず型式分類を行ない、工人集団を示す特徴を抽出した。すなわち刃研ぎの差、xタイプとyタイプである。これによって中細形B類の段階を工人集団構成における一大転換期と認め、同時に製品分布から流通面でも変化を見た。その背後には、銅矛をより重視する価値観が北部九州において確立することを想定できる。また更なる工人集団編成の変換契機となる中細形B'類、B''類の創出には、福田型銅鐸や大阪湾型銅戈との関わりが指摘できる。この生産の場での変化は、使用の場での埋納という祭式の一般化による、需要者と供給者ともに、共同体祭器の生産と流通という共通認識の成立に対応したものであった。このように銅剣生産は、銅剣に留まらず他の青銅器、あるいは北部九州から畿内に及ぶ広範囲での青銅器生産や、その用途と密接な関わりをもって展開したと結論づける。

During the middle and late Yayoi Period (first century B. C. to third century A. D.) in the western half of Japan, bronze objects were treated as prestige goods of high ranking people or paraphernalia for communal rituals. This paper sheds new light on the production and the role of bronze swords in the society in relation to other bronze objects, as well as on the growth of communal rituals. To achieve the goal, the auther has re-examined the classification scheme of bronze swords by looking into the typological changes of bronze swords over time, the surface features which might be related to the technique of a particular group of craftsmen, and the changes in the geographical distributions of bronze swords. The bronze swords in the middle Yayoi Period (ca. first century B. C. to first century A. D.) evolved from slender type through medium-slender and finaly to a variety of types. From the stage of the slender type swords on, the two distinctive sharpening methods (method x and method y) existed. In the stage dominated by the use of the medium-slender B type, method y was a main sharpening method, while in the earlier stage method x had been. This would suggest a possible re-organization among groups of craftsmen for the bronze swords. Furthermore, this re-organization might be related to the establishment of hierarchical system based on the differential values of bronze objects in the northern Kyushu area, i. e. those of a higher social status possessed spears, and of less high status possessed swords. The appearance of the types medium-slender B' (Fig. 5-12) and B" in the succeeding typological stage similarly indicates another re-organization among groups of the sword craftsmen. This re-organization might be a result of interchanges with or influence from craftsmen for the Fukuda- type dotaku and the type of bronze halberds characterisic to the Osaka Bay area. More importantly, this re-organization among the craftsmen for swords as well as other bronze objects would correspond to the phenomenon that communal rituals utilizing bronze objects, which was a practice characteristic of the western Honshu and Shikoku, became widespread even to the northern Kyushu area by the stage in which a variety of types co-existed.