Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)
Kunidomi-Nakamura Kofun
Also known asKunidominakamura Kofun
Datedc. 501–700 CE
Photo Saigen Jiro · Public domainSource file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
Kunidominakamura Kofun (国富中村古墳), also written Kunidomi-Nakamura Kofun, is a Kofun period burial mound in the Kunidomari neighborhood of the city of Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, in the San'in region of Japan. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 2013.
The tumulus was built between the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century, and its stone chamber had never been robbed.
Read on Wikipedia3 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
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
Kunidomi-Nakamura Kofun
Mount Kitayama is a massif that stretches from east to west on the north side of the Izumo Plain.
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Mount Kitayama is a massif that stretches from east to west on the north side of the Izumo Plain. At its western end is Hinomisaki Shrine, and at its eastern end is Mt. Tabushi, which is 462 meters above sea level. The Kunidominakamura Kofun is located at the southern foot of Mount Tabushi.
Research historySources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The tumulus was leveled in road construction in 2002, and its existence became known only when construction workers found the tunnel-style stone burial chamber. The size of the chamber and evidence that it had never been robbed drew immediate archaeological attention.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Excavations have determined that the kofun was originally an enpun (円墳)-style round tumulus with a diameter of approximately 30 meters. The chamber was over 9.3 meters in length and consisted of a burial chamber and an antechamber. The burial chamber is 3.3 meters long, 1.9 meters wide and 2 meters high; the antechamber is 2.5 meters long, 1.2 to 1.5 meters wide and 1.8 meters high; and the corridor is 1.8 meters long. The entry to the stone chamber is blocked with natural stones, and the blocking stone completely preserved the conditions at the time of burial.
Inside the burial chamber was a house-shaped sarcophagus. Its cover stone is broken into three large pieces, and the damage is believed to be intentional because the marks of hammer blows can be seen on it. In the antechamber is a box-shaped sarcophagus without a lid. It is thought that burial was performed twice, first in the house-shaped sarcophagus and then in the box-shaped one.
FindsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The chamber has not been completely excavated, for preservation purposes. The grave goods included one bronze mirror, one gold ring, one silver ring, three glass beads, four bronze bells, three decorative iron swords and three iron knives. In addition, three sets of iron arrowheads, three sets of horse harnesses and 61 pieces of Sue ware were found.
Stratigraphic excavation of the burial chamber determined that two iron swords were initially arranged leaning against the wall of the chamber, while others had been ritually broken. The intentional damage to the sarcophagus also points to some ritual destruction.
DatingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kunidominakamura KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
From these artifacts, it is believed that the tumulus was built between the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century.
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
6 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
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
- Location
- Kunidomari neighborhood, Izumo, Shimane, San'in region, JapanSource: Location
- Designation
- National Historic Site of Japan, designated in 2013Source: Designation
- Heritage designation
- Historic Site of JapanSource: Heritage designation
Where it stands
Japan
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 35°25′39″ N, 132°48′03″ EFor a GPS or map app: 35.42755, 132.80079
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.
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q109366133wikidata.org
- 02Wikipedia (en)en.wikipedia.org
Image files
- 国富中村古墳 大刀.JPGSaigen JiroPublic domain
- 国富中村古墳 須恵器 坏・高坏.JPGSaigen JiroPublic domain
- 国富中村古墳 須恵器群.JPGSaigen JiroPublic domain
- 国富中村古墳 馬具-1.JPGSaigen JiroPublic domain
- 国富中村古墳 馬具-3.JPGSaigen JiroPublic domain
- 国富中村古墳 銅鏡・銅鈴・玉類・鉄鏃.JPGSaigen JiroPublic domain
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Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Kunidominakamura 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