National Treasure "Dogu" part 1:"Jomon no Venus" (the Venus of Jomon)

The "Dogu" ("Jomon no Venus") [Clay Figurine (the Venus of Jomon)] of the Tanabatake site

• Excavated on Sep. 8, 1986
• Designated as a national treasure of Japan on Jun. 15, 1995

This is a large-sized dogu (clay figurine) that measures 27cm height and 2.14kg, and this was unearthed from the Tanabatake site in Yonezawa district, Chino. The “Jomon no Venus” is possibly dated back to the middle period of the Jomon period, approximately B.C.3000 (5000yrBP) because of the carved patterns on the head. Apparently, we can clearly recognize the pregnancy on its big belly and the characteristics of a woman on rounded shape overall.
This dogu was found laid in a pit that was dug at the center of the site, and the pit is considered to have been a burial pit. Up to date, there are 20 thousand dogus unearthed in Japan, most of them were found broken. We can consider that this dogu had been treated politely in order to avoid breakage, because she doesn’t have not so much broken part oppositely to other dogu. On June 15 of 1995 (9 years later after excavation), the “Jomon no Venus” was designated as a National Treasure and it was the first designation of the artifacts excavated from the sites of the Jomon period.

The "Jomon no Venus" was found in the pit located at the center of the site.

関連情報

• National Treasure "Dogu" part 2: "Kamen no Megami"(the Masked Goddess)
• Togariishi Museum of Jomon Archaeology(Togariishi Jomon Koukokan)【尖石縄文考古館】
• The Jomon period: an outline
• Restoration of the national treasure Dogu (Jomon no Venus) [PDFファイル／99KB]
• Larger dogu than the Jomon no Venus from the Hiedagashira B site [PDFファイル／804KB]