阿波和紙伝統産業会館：イベント情報

Nishiyama Tumulus

Centered on Tennohara in Kawada, ancient human tombs, or kofun, were scattered across the mountains and hills from Okuhara in the south to Omine in the north. Most of them have already been dug up and have no original form, so it is doubtful that some of them are even ancient tombs.
　However, the decisive factor in identifying them is the presence or absence of green schist, the material used for the sarcophagus of the tomb. Since this prefecture is a major producer of green schist, most of the ancient tombs in this prefecture are made of this material.
　Most of the tumuli were made between the 3rd and 7th centuries.
Kofun tombs can be divided into three periods: the first, middle, and late periods, based on four factors: location, soil sealing, internal structure, and burial accessories. In the early period (3rd-4th centuries), the tombs were circular, square, or posterior frontal, and were located on the edge of hills or on plateaus. The interior was a pit-type stone chamber, with many wooden coffins, clay coffins, and ship-shaped stone coffins, and many burial accessories, such as mirrors, swords, swords, jade beads, and pipe beads.
　In the middle period (5th century), the tombs are magnificent, with the front part protruding and located on flat land. Among the burial accessories, we can see the development of armor, including horses. In the later period (6th-7th centuries), there are many round and square burial mounds, and there are also many clustered burial mounds. They can be found on plains, plateaus, or hills.
The interior of the tombs is a cavernous stone chamber with a house-shaped sarcophagus, and the burial accessories include Sue ware, ring-headed swords, gold earrings, and many other artifacts.
　Sue ware and sanukite (a hard, black stone used as a raw material for stone tools) have been found in the Tennohara burial mound. In view of this, they were probably from the later period. There were apparently two of them in Tennohara, but the original form is not seen now. The blue stone used for the burial mound is located to the northeast of the shrine and is used as a resting place to sit on. This is thought to be a cover stone, considering its size.
　The burial mound in the mound hole is no longer there due to pilot work, and the blue stones that were probably used for the burial mound are scattered all over the place. The other two mounds have shrines built on them, and the stones from the mounds are being used for them.
　The burial mounds in Nishiyama need to be reexamined, but during the pilot project in 1970, Sue ware was unearthed, and the future of research looks bright.