Ōyasuba Kofun

Ōyasuba Kofun (大安場古墳群, Ōyasuba Kofun gun) is an Archaeological park containing a group of middle Kofun period kofun burial tumuli located in what is now part of the city of Kōriyama, Fukushima in the southern Tohoku region of Japan. The site consists of one keyhole-shaped kofun and four dome-shaped kofun. The keyhole-shaped kofun is the largest in the Tohoku region. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 2000.[1]

Ōyasuba Kofun
大塚山古墳
Ōyasuba Kofun
Ōyasuba Kofun (Japan)
LocationKōriyama, Fukushima, Japan
RegionTohoku region
Coordinates37°21′23″N 140°24′12″E
TypeKofun
History
FoundedKofun period
Site notes
OwnershipNational Historic Site
Public accessYes

Overview

The site is located on the east side of the Abukuma River, which flows through from the south to the north, at an altitude of about 250 meters. Discovered in 1991, the Koriyama City Board of Education conducted an excavation study from 1996 to 1998.

The keyhole-shaped kofun has a length of 83 meters and is orientated in a north-south direction. It was constructed by partly cutting out the natural hill next to the tumulus. A large amount of pot-shaped Sue ware with a hole in the bottom was excavated from the slopes of the mound, and it was likely that these were originally kept on the mount top. The interior has a clay-floored burial chamber with a length of 10 meters and width of two meters, containing a 9.2 meter long tree-coffin. The tomb had a large quantity of grave goods, including swords, spears, sickles, fragments of armor as well as jewelry, which date the construction to around the second half of the 4th century

The remaining dome-shaped kofun were not well preserved, and are believed to be the tombs of the leaders of a nearby settlement.

See also

References
  1. "大安場古墳群" (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs.
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