Katsunuma, Yamanashi Pref. ¨C Debate continues to intensify around an artifact on display in the exhibition hall of the Idojiri Archeological Museum.
Among the hundreds of items on show ¡ª most excavated from nearby sites close to the border of Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures ¡ª stands a 5,000-year-old ²â¨±°ì¨³Ù²õ³Ü²ú²¹³Ù²õ³Ü°ì¾±-»å´Ç°ì¾± earthenware vessel.
Adorned with a swirling relief, the central portion depicts a creature with a humped torso, elongated limbs and three-fingered hands, which the museum¡¯s curator, Kurando Soejima, says is a half-human, half-frog deity symbol, possibly connected with the lunar phases.
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