is a

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

keyhole-shaped

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

, located in the Mayu neighborhood of the city of

Kishiwada, Osaka is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 190,853 in 88598 households and a population density of 2600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is well known for its Danjiri Matsu ...

in the

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1956, with the area under protection expanded in 2010.

Overview

The Mayuyama Kofun is a , which is shaped like a keyhole, having one square end and one circular end, when viewed from above. It is located on a hill overlooking the Ushitaki River, which flows out of the Izumi Mountains. It is orientated to the northwest, and has a length about 200 meters with a posterior rear circle diameter of about 130 meters, making it the largest in the Izumi region. The tumulus was originally covered in ''

fukiishi ( or "roofing stone") were a means of covering burial chambers and burial mounds during the kofun period of Japan (). Stones collected from riverbeds were affixed to the slopes of raised kofun and other burial chambers. They are considered t ...

'' and had a large number and variety of ''

haniwa The are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. ''Haniwa'' were created according to the ''wazumi'' technique, ...

'', including cylindrical, and "morning glory-shaped" variants. There were also a ceremonial platforms extending on both sides off of the constriction between the posterior and anterior portions. Traces of a moat remain around the posterior circular portion, but it is not certain if this moat was contemporary with the building of the tumulus, or was a later addition.

Archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s have only been conducted around the periphery of the tumulus 1997 and 1998, and a full-scale survey has never been conducted, Consequently, details of the

burial chamber A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could a ...

are uncertain, but is it believed to have been a vertical pit-type structure which was robbed in antiquity judging from scattered fragments of

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

and shards of

Haji ware is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been found ...

pottery which have been found on the surface of the posterior circular portion. From the construction details, ''haniwa'', and pottery shards, it is estimated that the tumulus was built around the latter half of the 4th century. At present, access to the tumulus area is restricted. In the vicinity of the Mayuyama Kofun are a number of ancillary tumuli. The to the south and the to the north survive, but numerous cylindrical ''haniwa'' excavated in the precincts of Awaji Shrine to the northeast indicate that the shrine may have been built on a now-vanished tumulus. The Makozuka Kofun is a square-type () measuring 35 meters on each side. It was largely flattened in 1958 during work to repair the moat embankment on the Mayuyama Kofun, during which time cylindrical ''haniwa'' were excavated. It estimated to have been built in the latter half of the 4th century (or the beginning of the 5th century). The tumulus is about a twelve minutes by car from

Kumeda Station is a passenger railway station in located in the city of Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Kumeda Station is served by the Hanwa Line, and is located from the northern terminus of th ...

on the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

Hanwa Line The is a commuter rail line in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The 61.3 km (38.1 mi) line runs between Osaka and Wakayama, Wakayama, Wakayama, Japan and has a 1.7 km branchlin ...

. ;Total length: 200 meters: ;Anterior rectangular portion: 95 meters wide x 8 meters high, 3-tier ;Posterior circular portion: 127 meter diameter x 15 meters high, 3-tiers

References

External links

Kishiwada City home page
{in lang, ja History of Osaka Prefecture Kishiwada, Osaka Historic Sites of Japan Archaeological sites in Japan Kofun

Overview

See also

References

External links