Yoshinogari Keitai-Guide
Copper swords were one of the most important weapons in the Yayoi period, and were often interred along with bodies in burial jars. Wooden handles were fixed to the swords, and one still in its scabbard was excavated from archeological ruins. Copper swords were probably symbolic of their owners’ status. There were various designs: those excavated from Yubihon Village in ruins in Saga prefecture are covered with red lacquer and have scabbards adorned with jewels. As with copper halberds, they got bigger after the middle and later part of the period, and were used as festival implements rather than as weapons.
(C)YOSHINOGARIHISTORICAL PARK