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 ...

burial mound, located in the Kinseicho neighborhood of the city of Shikokuchūō, Ehime on the island of Shikoku in

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 ...

. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 2011. It is the largest rectangular burial mound in Shikoku.

Overview

The Umamukaiyama Kofun is located on a hill with an elevation of 20 meters on the east bank of the Kinsei River that flows through the eastern part of the Uma Plain, which is roughly in the center of the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

of Shikoku. The tumulus is a rectangular , with two side-entry stone

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 ...

s that both open to the south. 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 ...

conducted from 2003 to 2009 found that the tumulus measured 46 meters from north-to-south by 70 meters east-to-west, and had a moat with a width of five meters and depth of two meters on at least the south and north sides. Burial Chamber No. 1 to the west was 10.8 meters long, with an internal room of 3.9 by 2.5 meters and a height of 2.6 meters, and is in good condition. Burial Chamber No. 2 to the east was 14.3 meters long, and its internal room was estimated to be 3.8 meters high, and is partially collapsed. The chambers were made from massive monoliths of crystalline schist weighing several hundred tons, which had been quarried to the south of the

Shikoku Mountains Shikoku Mountains () is a mountain range that runs from east to west in the central part of the Shikoku in Japan. The length of the mountain range is about 250km. The highest peak in the mountain range is Mount Ishizuchi is a mountain on the ...

and brought to this location by some unknown means. From the fact that the two stone chambers are parallel and the elevation of the floor surface of both stone chambers is the same, it seems that the construction of two stone chambers. was intended from the beginning of the construction of the tumulus. The size of the monoliths and burial chambers has led the tumulus to be dubbed the "Iyo no Ishibutai" after the famous

Ishibutai Kofun is a stone ''kofun'' or tumulus of the Asuka period in the east of Shimanoshō, Asuka, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The kofun is believed to be the tomb of Soga no Umako. It occupies an area of , and is the largest known megalithic structure in Japan. ...

Asuka, Nara is a village located in Takaichi District, Nara Prefecture, Japan. As of April 1, 2017, the village has an estimated population of 5,681, with 2,170 households, and a population density of . The total area is . Asuka is the land where ancient ...

. The tumulus is estimated have been constructed in the early 7th century, based on the Sue ware and other grave goods, such as gilt bronze rings and chalcedony ''

magatama are curved, comma-shaped beads that appeared in prehistoric Japan from the Final Jōmon period through the Kofun period, approximately 1000 BCE to the 6th century CE. The beads, also described as "jewels", were made of primitive stone and eart ...

'' found in Burial Chamber No1, when the door was opened in 1893 by local antiquarians. The whereabouts of most of these artifacts is now unknown. Uma Mukaiyama Kofun, funkyu.jpg, Umamukaiyama Kofun Uma Mukaiyama Kofun-1, genshitsu-1.jpg, No.1 Burial Chamber, far end Uma Mukaiyama Kofun-1, sendou-2.jpg, No1 Burial Chamber, entry

References

External links

Shikokuchūō City Board of Education Cultural Promotion Division "Cultural Assets of Shikokuchūō City"
{{in lang, ja History of Ehime Prefecture Shikokuchūō Historic Sites of Japan Archaeological sites in Japan Kofun

Overview

See also

References

External links