The is a group of a approximately one hundred ''

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumulus, tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞 ...

'' burial mounds located on

river terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial t ...

s on the south coast of the city of

Minamisōma is a city located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 53,462 in 26,355 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Minamisōma is located in northea ...

, in

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

in the southern

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Some 27 of the tombs have been excavated. The site has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since October 24, 1979.

Overview

The Mano Kofun cluster extends over an area measuring three kilometers east-west by one kilometer north-south on the south shore of the Manogawa River, and were formerly grouped into the Hachimori Kofun cluster, Ōtani Kofun cluster and Koikebara Kofun cluster, but were made into a single grouping for the purposes of securing National Historic Site status. Full-scale excavations have been conducted since 1947, and a total of 27 units have been surveyed. Two of the larger tumuli have keyhole-shaped extensions to the top and bottom, and the largest has a moat and a length of 28.5 meters. Most of the others are small -style circular tumuli with diameter of about 10 meters. The internal structures of the excavated tombs exhibited a great variety, including flagstones, a box-type sarcophagus, and a pit-type 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 ...

. The

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by researche ...

included many straight swords, horse harnesses, and jade jewelry, and stone facsimiles of everyday objects such as axes, and sickles, belonging to the late Kofun period, or the 5th to 6th centuries AD. A number of the horse fittings were of bronze and gold imported from the Asian continent. As these objects were a monopoly of the imperial court during this period, these items indicate the burial of a powerful persons with a strong connection to the

Yamato state The was a tribal alliance centered on the Yamato region (Nara Prefecture) from the 4th century to the 7th century, and ruled over the alliance of noble families in the central and western parts of the Japanese archipelago. The age is from th ...

. The site is approximately a 20-minute walk from Kashima Station on the

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

Jōban Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line officially begins at Nippori Station in Arakawa, Tokyo before the line officially ends at Iwanuma Station in Iwanuma, Miyagi. However, following ...

References

External links

Minamisōma town home page
{{in lang, ja Minamisōma Historic Sites of Japan Tourist attractions in Fukushima Prefecture History of Fukushima Prefecture Kofun clusters

Overview

See also

References

External links