The 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 ...

square-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 Nakano neighborhood of the city of

Tondabayashi, Osaka is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 108803 in 51632 households and a population density of 1200 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Tondabayashi is located in the south ...

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 2002 collectively with the nearby

Shindō temple ruins file:Oganjiike Kawaragama Site, setsumeiban.jpg, 260px, Oganji-ike tile kiln ruins The , is an archaeological site with the ruins of a Hakuhō period Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temple and roof tile kiln remnants located in the Midorigao ...

and the Oganji-ike tile kiln ruins.

Overview

The Okameishi Kofun is a -style tumulus with 21-meter square sides. It is located on a ridge that protrudes southeast from the Habino Hills at an elevation of 98 meters. No ''

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 ...

'' have been found at the site.The tumulus is orientated to the south and has a horizontal grantite-lined

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 ...

containing a house-shaped sarcophagus.The sarcophagus is made of white

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

from

Mount Nijō Mount Nijō(二上山, Nijōzan) is a mountain in the Kongō Range straddling the prefectural border between Taishi, Osaka and Katsuragi, Nara in Japan. Mount Nijō has twin peaks, Odake (517m) and Medake (474m). From the top there are sweeping v ...

and has a stone lid with six protrusions for hanging by ropes. As the lid has been exposed for a long time it has weathered and resembles the shape of a turtle, hence the name "Kameishi". An

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 ...

in 2002 revealed that the entourage was originally closed with a river stone.

Burial goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

included shards of

Sue ware was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and origin ...

pottery, which date the tumulus to the first half of the 7th century. An unusual feature is that many flat

roof tile A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...

s from the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...

are stacked up around the sarcophagus forming a retaining wall. The tiles are the same type as the

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

-style roof tiles used at the Shindō temple ruins located to the southeast, and may indicate that the person buried in this time had some close relationship with that temple. The tumulus is about a 15-minute walk from

Tondabayashi Station is a passenger railway station in the city of Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway company Kintetsu Railway. Lines Tondabayashi Station is served by the Kintetsu Nagano Line, and is located 5.7 kilometers from ...

on the

Kintetsu Nagano Line The is a railway line of Japanese private railway company Kintetsu Railway branching off Minami-Osaka Line at in southern suburbs of Osaka. The line connects cities of Habikino, Tondabayashi and Kawachi-Nagano in Osaka Prefecture, terminates ...

Gallery

File:Okameishi Kofun, sekkan.jpg, Stone sarcophagus File:Okameishi Kofun, sendou.jpg, Entrourage looking towards burial chamber

References

External links

Tondabayashi City home page

Minamikawachi Tourist Information
{{in lang, ja History of Osaka Prefecture Tondabayashi, Osaka Historic Sites of Japan Square Kofun

Overview

Gallery

See also

References

External links