Comma-shaped Jade (Gogok)

Kofun period
Gwangju National Museum, Korea

This elaborately-knobbed gogok, a comma-shaped jadestone, is at least a cousin of Japanese magatama from the same period. The exact relationship between the two is still being worked out. In general the cultural transmission flows from Korea to Japan, especially during the Kofun period and later. But in the case of gogok/magatama, much earlier examples have been found in both countries, leaving open for now (2016) the question of ultimate origins.