Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)
Kokaiharamae No.1 Kofun
Datedc. 501–600 CE
Photo MChew · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Kokaiharamae No.1 Kofun (古海原前１号古墳) is a burial mound of the Kofun period, located in the Kokai-cho neighborhood of the town of Ōizumi, Gunma, in the Kantō region of Japan. It is believed to have originally been a hotategata kofun (帆立型古墳), a scallop-shaped tumulus.
The tumulus was designated a Gunma Prefecture Historic Site in 1988, and the artifacts recovered from the site are collectively designated a Gunma Prefecture Tangible Cultural Property.
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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
Kokaiharamae No.1 Kofun
The tumulus is adjacent to the Kokaihigashi Community Center and is maintained as a historical park.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The mound stands on a diluvial plateau on the left bank of the Tone River. Although its appearance has changed significantly over the long years, it is believed to have originally been a scallop-shaped tumulus, so called because it resembles a zenpōkōenfun keyhole-shaped tumulus but with the anterior rectangular portion very short and wide. It has a total length of approximately 54 meters, with the posterior circular portion 35 meters in diameter, and a height of 3.3 meters.
The tumulus is adjacent to the Kokaihigashi Community Center and is maintained as a historical park. It is approximately five kilometers south of the Tōbu Railway Koizumimachi Station.
ExcavationsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Archaeological excavations conducted in 1984 found that the mound contained two burial chambers stacked vertically in a unique configuration, which makes it an extremely rare tumulus nationwide. Both cylindrical and figurative haniwa (human, horse and sword-shaped), as well as Sue ware and Haji ware pottery shards, were found on the mound.
FindsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Grave goods included Sue ware pottery dated to the late 5th to early 6th century. Other artifacts included a bronze mirror with a pictorial design of mythical beasts, a silver-mounted twisted-pattern ring-pommel iron sword, horse trappings (bridle, ferrule fittings, clasp fittings), iron miniatures (iron axe, knife, chisel), a wooden-mounted sword, glass magatama, round beads, iron arrowheads, an iron sickle and a vertical comb.
DatingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Volcanic ash from Mount Haruna's Futatsudake, which erupted around 500 AD, was found directly above the tumulus mound. This provides a definite upper limit to the construction date.
HistorySources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kokaiharamae No.1 KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Urban encroachment has destroyed most of the remaining tumuli in what was once the Kokaiharamae Kofun cluster.
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
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 500 CE
Volcanic ash from Mount Haruna's Futatsudake, which erupted around 500 AD, was found directly above the tumulus mound, thus providing a definite upper limit to the construction date.
Source - 1984
Archaeological excavations conducted in 1984 found that it contained two burial chambers that were stacked vertically in a unique configuration, making it an extremely rare tumulus nationwide.
Source - 1988
The tumulus was designated a Gunma Prefecture Historic Site in 1988. The artifacts recovered from the site are also collectively designated as a Gunma Prefecture Tangible Cultural Property.Urban encroachment has destroyed most the remaining tumuli in what was once the Kokaiharamae Kofun cluster.
Source
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
1 photograph, each with its author and licence
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 4000–1200 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypological estimate, not a date for this site: a megalithic mound in Japan is normally dated between 4000 BCE and 1200 BCE (Atlas typological table).Source for this date
Measured facts
- Period
- Kofun periodSource: Period
- Heritage designation
- Gunma Prefecture Historic SiteSource: Heritage designation
- Designation year
- 1988Source: Designation year
- Recovered artifacts
- collectively designated as a Gunma Prefecture Tangible Cultural PropertySource: Recovered artifacts
- Location
- Kokai-cho, Ōizumi, Gunma, Kantō, JapanSource: Location
Where it stands
Japan
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 36°13′34″ N, 139°24′50″ EFor a GPS or map app: 36.22611, 139.41389
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.
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)酒巻古墳群250–650 CE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Yokotsukayama Kofun250–650 CE
Asakozuka Kofun250–650 CE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)斎条古墳群250–650 CE
Tsukamawari Kofun Group4000–1200 BCE
Nyotaisan Kofun4000–1200 BCE
Ōta Tenjin-yama Kofun
Fujimoto Kannonyama Kofun4000–1200 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q141216580wikidata.org
- 02Wikipedia (en)en.wikipedia.org
Image files
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Kokaiharamae No.1 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