Japan to Conduct Dike Excavation at Ancient Tumulus

October 16, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Imperial Household Agency said Monday that it will start excavation work at a dike at Daisen Kofun, the country's largest ancient tumulus measuring 486 meters long in the western prefecture of Osaka, later this month.

The government agency will conduct excavation work at the inner of two banks surrounding the keyhole-shaped grave mound known as the tomb of Emperor Nintoku, which was built between the late fourth century and late fifth century.

The agency aims to check the condition of any remnants and artifacts buried within the dike, part of broader work on collecting basic data for envisaged construction work to help preserve the mound, located in the city of Sakai.

It will be the first time to conduct research on the inner dike to confirm relics. There is high probability that a row of "ento haniwa" cylindrical clay figures will be found, an agency official said.

The excavation will involve manual digging of sections, each measuring 28-30 meters long and two meters wide, at a point on the east side and two locations on the south side of the dike. The agency will work with the Sakai city government on the excavation.

The agency plans to conduct similar research on other areas of the dike. The work on the entire inner dike is expected to take a few years, the agency official said.

The burial mound, surrounded by three moats, is being eroded by waves of water, and there is concern that the mound will collapse as a result.

To tackle the issue, the agency is planning to drain the water from the moats and conduct bank protection work for the grave mound in the future.

As part of its moves to preserve Daisen Kofun, the agency measured the depth and amount of water in the innermost moat in 2016.

In the measurement survey, the agency found that the burial mound was 525 meters long, by measuring the bottom of the moat.

The Japanese government decided in January this year to recommend the Mozu-Furuichi Kofungun ancient tumulus clusters in the prefecture, which include Daisen Kofun, for UNESCO World Heritage listing in 2019. Jiji Press