7.5-foot-long sword from 4th-century Japan may have 'protected' deceased from evil spirits

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Archaeologists have unearthed an oversized ceremonial iron sword and a bronze mirror shaped like a shield from a 1,600-year-old burial mound in Nara, Japan.

Archaeologists in Japan have unearthed a 7.5-foot-long iron sword during excavations of a 1,600-year-old burial mound near the city of Nara. The sword was too large to wield as a weapon, so its purpose was probably to protect the person it was buried with from evil spirits, experts say.

The lengthy weapon is an example of a"dakō" – swords with a distinctive wavy or undulating blade, a bit like the kris knives of Indonesia . Kofun are also found elsewhere in Japan, and it is estimated there may be as many as 160,000 throughout the country. The smallest are about 50 feet across, but many are hundreds of feet across.

The latest excavations also unearthed a large bronze mirror, shaped like a shield, which is about 2 feet long and about a 1 foot wide; like the oversized sword, archaeologists think it was intended to protect the dead from evil spirits.

 

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Ancient swords are rad.

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