Haniwa Dancers: 1,500-year-old ghostly figurines thought to hold the souls of the dead

During the Kofun period (300 to 710) of Japanese history, people buried the dead in large mounds with many grave goods. Scattered around the mounds were objects called "haniwa" — clay cylinders topped with clay figures, used in offerings for the dead.

These two haniwa, known as the "Dancing People" or "Haniwa Terracotta Dancers," are in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum. They were discovered in 1930 during the excavation of an ancient cemetery in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, and are thought to have been made about 1,500 years ago.

According to the Tokyo National Museum, haniwa were made throughout the Kofun period and were used exclusively as tomb decorations. Originally simple clay cylinders, haniwa became more elaborate over time, as the cylinders were topped with figures that included humans, animals, houses, armor and boats. They were used to mark grave boundaries, and some haniwa were thought to hold the souls of the deceased.

The Dancing People haniwa are especially striking because of their simplicity. Their mouths and eyes are holes, which make them appear to be wide open. Their arms are stick-like, and their upper bodies end in a cylinder base below a thin belt. Their curving arms and open mouths have led some researchers to conclude they are singers or dancers.

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In a 2008 study of the Dancing People, archaeologist Yoshio Negita suggested that the pair may be a man and a woman. The smaller one has clay on the sides of its head, suggesting a peasant hairstyle, so haniwa may represent a male farmer, Negita proposed. Another theory, put forward by archaeologist Yoshimichi Tsukada in a 2007 study, suggested that the haniwa may depict two male herders holding the reins of their horses.

Thousands of haniwa have been discovered from ancient Japanese graveyards, as each tomb was surrounded by many of these objects.

But video game enthusiasts may recognize haniwa from a 21st century context: In the game "Animal Crossing," the "gyroids" that a player can dig up are called "haniwa" in the Japanese version and are based on the ancient clay sculptures.