Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)
Chihara Ōbaka Kofun
Also known asChihara Ōhaka Kofun
Datedc. 1 BCE–400 CE
Photo Saigen Jiro · CC0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
Chihara Ōbaka Kofun (茅原大墓古墳) is a Kofun period burial mound in the Chihara neighborhood of the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, in the Kansai region of Japan. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1982.
It is a scallop-shaped tumulus 67 meters long, and a haniwa found in its moat in 2011 is the oldest anthropomorphic haniwa yet discovered.
Read on Wikipedia2 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Age sources
How old this site is, and who says so.
Range across all claimsc. 1 BCE–400 CE
EstimatedWhat this badge means
A reading of this site: what its style says, or a statement published about it.
- 1 BCEPublished sourceWikidata gives an inception of 0 CE.Source: wikidata.org
- 301–400 CEWikipedia: Chihara Ōbaka Kofun (infobox)Source: en.wikipedia.org
- 400 CEWikidata inceptionSource: wikidata.org
Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Chihara Ōbaka Kofun
The kofun lies in the southeastern part of the Nara Basin, at the western foot of Mount Miwa.
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The kofun lies in the southeastern part of the Nara Basin, at the western foot of Mount Miwa. The area contains the Yamato Tomb Group, including the Hashihaka Kofun, dating from the early Kofun period (the 3rd to the latter half of the 4th century). This kofun, however, is from the middle of the Kofun period, and no other major tombs from around the time of its construction are in the immediate vicinity.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The tumulus is a scallop-shaped kofun (帆立型古墳) orientated to the north. It has a length of 67 meters, with a posterior circular portion 56 meters in diameter and eight meters tall. The anterior portion has a maximum width of 29 meters and is two meters tall. A reservoir pond on the west side of the tumulus is thought to be the surviving remains of a moat. The posterior mound is constructed in five tiers, with fukiishi and cylindrical and house-shaped haniwa on the surface.
ExcavationsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The tumulus was excavated in 1978. In 2011 a haniwa from the late 4th century depicting a human head on a shield was found in the moat; it is the oldest anthropomorphic haniwa yet discovered. The burial facility is unclear, and details about the grave goods are also unknown.
VisitingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The tumulus is about a 20-minute walk from Miwa Station on the JR West Sakurai Line.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Japanese kofun tumuli
Kofun are the great burial mounds of ancient Japan, built mainly between the middle of the third century and the early seventh century CE. The period takes its name from them. The most distinctive form is the keyhole-shaped mound (zempō-kōen-fun), with one square end and one round end seen from above, but there are also plain round mounds, double-rectangle mounds and square mounds. Orientation is not fixed: in the Mozu group at Sakai, some round parts face north and others east.
The largest is Daisenryō kofun at Sakai in Osaka, the biggest kofun in Japan, thought to have been built over some twenty years in the middle of the fifth century. By common acceptance it is the tomb of Emperor Nintoku, and the Imperial Household Agency treats it as such, but this cannot be confirmed because the mound has not been excavated. It stands in the Mozu group, which once had more than a hundred tombs of which fewer than half remain; the group and the neighbouring Furuichi cluster were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019. The mounds were built on a plateau overlooking Osaka Bay, near the ancient coastline.
Dating rests on mound shape, pottery and grave goods. Haniwa, which means "clay circle", are terracotta cylinders and figures of houses, animals and people that were arranged in rings and rows around and on top of the mounds. Smaller kofun are very numerous and sit in groups in every region of Japan.
When visiting, look for the moat that surrounds the larger mounds, for the stepped outline of terraces, and for reconstructed haniwa in museums and parks beside the tombs.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Kofun, Wikipedia: Daisen Kofun, Wikipedia: Haniwa, Wikipedia: Mozu Tombs · CC BY-SA 4.0
See it in 3D
An interpretive reconstruction of the monument, standing on the real ground at its exact point, under the sun for that place and season. Drag to look around it.
The reconstruction is ours, not a survey: it shows what a monument of this type looks like, at the size the record gives for this one.
Photographs
5 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
How this date was established: Stated by the sourceWikidata gives an inception of 0 CE.Source for this date
Measured facts
- Period
- Early Kofun periodSource: Period
- Location
- Chihara neighborhood, Sakurai, Nara, Kansai region, JapanSource: Location
- Designation
- National Historic Site of Japan, designated in 1982Source: Designation
- Inception
- 1st millennium CESource: Inception
- Heritage designation
- Historic Site of JapanSource: Heritage designation
Where it stands
Japan
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 34°32′12″ N, 135°50′50″ EFor a GPS or map app: 34.53673, 135.84722
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Chihara Kitsunezuka Kofun250–650 CE
Hokenoyama Kofun
Hashihaka Kofun280–300 CE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Izuka Kofun250–650 CE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Tamakiyama Kofun Cluster4000–1200 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Makimuku Ishizuka Kofun
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Higaida Ōtsuka Kofun
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Makimuku Kofun Cluster4000–1200 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q109369031wikidata.org
- 02Wikipedia (en)en.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Chihara Ohaka Kofun, funkyu.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
- Chihara Ohaka Kofun.jpgImmanuelleCC BY 4.0
- Chihara Ohaka Kofun, funcho.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
- Chihara Ohaka Kofun, kouenbu.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
- Chihara Ohaka Kofun, zenpoubu.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Chihara Ōbaka Kofun" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): Chihara Ōbaka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q109369031CC0