Swords as Part of the Complex of Long-Bladed Weapons of Yamato Warriors 3rd – 7th Centuries

Abstract

In the 3^rd – 7^th centuries the Japanese islands were the scene of a fight between the Yamato state and the surrounding Emishi and Kumaso tribes. In the battles, Yamato warriors used different types of offensive weapons – including double-edged swords. In this article, for the first time in the Russian historiography, the known Japanese swords of the 3^rd – 7^th centuries were classified on the basis of their basic morphological characteristics – the cross-section of the blade, its shape, the presence of a guard or its analogue, as well as the features of the design of the weapon. During the work 287 swords were studied originating in the provinces of Wakayama, Ishikawa, Mie, Miyazaki, Nara, Saga, Saitama, Fukuoka, Hyogo, Yamanashi and others. We identified 2 departments, 4 types and 9 subtypes. As a comparative material, we used long daggers of the same historical period, the construction and decoration of which are close or similar to the construction of swords. It was found that the most widespread type of swords are specimens with a lenticular straight blade without a guard or its analogue. Judging by the visual materials, as well as the laconic design of hilt and scabbard, most of the swords were part of the armament of simple warriors. In perspective, swords were replaced from the wide military use of Yamato warriors by straight single-bladed backswords, which, in turn, evolved over time into the famous Japanese sabers of the developed Middle Ages.