Life would never be the same again for them. In a further effort to integrate the Ainu into modern Japanese society, their language, traditions and religion were banned. Their territories were redistributed to create industrial farmland and they were encouraged to adapt to an agricultural life, or to find employment in Hokkaido’s expanding fishing industry. The Ainu’s continued hunter-gather society came into direct conflict with the new agricultural Wajin settlements and their rights to hunt and fish were taken from them. In 1868, an increasing appetite for modern capitalism, and a need to strengthen Japan’s defences against Russia, made Hokkaido an economic and strategic priority for Emperor Meiji’s government. The facial tattoo, resembling a smile around the mouth, was one of many traditions banned by the Japanese government in the 19 th century. Only the women practiced and wore tattoos in Ainu culture and it was a prerequisite for marriage. The Ainu term for tattooing was ‘anchi-piri’, which can be roughly translated as obsidian (anchi) cut (piri). The Ainu, described in the register entry, also used obsidian for one of their most sacred traditional practices: tattooing. Some of these arrowheads still possess a razor-sharp tip that could easily penetrate flesh, it is quite possible that these examples were used to hunt native deer or bears. Unlike the Irish Neolithic, the Jōmon period was primarily a hunter-gatherer culture, rather than agricultural. During the Japanese Neolithic, called the Jōmon, it was knapped to produce tools for hunting and domestic activities. In Hokkaido, obsidian was used in much the same way as flint was in Ireland and could produce fine blades and tools. Due to Hokkaido’s seismic activity and geological characteristics, it has an abundance of obsidian, exploited since the early Upper Palaeolithic at the latest (c.30,000 BP). It is found in areas where volcanic eruptions have taken place and is the result of a rapid cooling of the lava. These arrowheads, measuring from 20mm x 10mm (1912:102.1) to 45mm x 19mm (1912:102.13) are made from obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass. They are described in the RIA’s register as follows: “102-1912: Twenty one obsidian arrowheads, knives, fragments etc. The seven arrowheads displayed are part of a larger group of obsidian objects, sent by Munro as part of a series of donations from him in the early 1910s. These ethereal arrowheads began their journey in prehistoric Japan, before being picked up by anthropologist and physician, Neil Gordon Munro, and finally sent by boat to the collection of the Royal Irish Academy that would eventually be transferred to the Dublin Science and Art Museum (later renamed the National Museum of Ireland). Over the years, many small collections have made their way into the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology’s crypt storage, each with its own story, opening windows to a multitude of past landscapes and societies. A package from Japan brings a collection of Neolithic artefacts and a glimpse at a mysterious, ancient people: the Ainu.
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