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Japan's oldest boat-shaped wooden coffin excavated in Nagoya

NAGOYA, Japan - Photo taken Feb. 21 shows part of what is believed to be Japan's oldest boat-shaped coffin which was excavated in the Hiratecho ruins in Nagoya's Kita Ward. The city's Board of Education said the coffin is believed to be made some 2,000 years ago, or in the latter period of the mid-Yayoi Era. The 2.8-meter-long, 80-centimeter-wide ''boat'' is placed with its bow facing northwest. Hisao Suzuki, who heads the board's cultural assets conservation section, said it is presumed that the bow faced the sunset as ancient people thought the coffin was a vehicle to take the deceased person to the afterlife. (Kyodo)