出雲石＜島根県＞ 【日本銘石】

Izumo Stone

出雲石

日本創生、日本神話に欠かせない大国主命の土地「出雲の国」の石。
大国主命は、日本では大黒様と同一視されます。
古事記に登場する出雲大社は天にそびえるほど高かったとされ、現代の調査では48mもの高さだったといわれています。
古代日本史のミステリーの1つで、出雲には独立した政権があったといわれています。
島根県宍道町来待の石で、1400万年前に形成された凝灰質砂岩。
江戸時代には松江藩が藩外に持ち出し禁止にし、松江城の築城に出雲石は使用されている歴史的な石です。
青白い灰色をしていますが、時間が経つと黄色になってく不思議な石です。
たびたび化石が含まれていることがあります。

This stone is produced in the land of Izumo, which is the land of Okuninushino Mikoto and thought to be related to the creations of Japan, and it is regarded an important place in Japanese Mythology.
It is said that Izumo Taisha Shrine, which was mentioned in the Kojiki, was so high enough to reached heaven, according to a modern survey it was 48 m high.
This is s stone produced in Kimachi on Shimane Prefecture and it`s made from condensed sandstone formed 14 million years ago This stone has been historically loved especially during the Kofun period and the middle ages. In the Edo periods, the Matsue clan forbade the stone to being carried outside the prefecture. This is a historical famous stone because it was used for the construction of Matsue Castle. This curious stone is usually pale gray, but turn yellow as time goes on. In the early days of the ancient time when this area was still the sea, sea creature sometimes were lock up on Izumo stone, and still now fossils can be found in the stone. A fossil of the left lower jawbone of Paleoparadoxia was discovered in an Izumo stone in 1980 and it becomes a hot topic.