Artifacts Excavated from the Amamiyayama Tomb, Osaka

Grave Goods from an Early Kofun

The Artifacts Excavated from the Amamiyayama Tomb, Osaka (大阪府安満宮山古墳出土品, Osaka-fu Amamiyayama Kofun Shutsudohin) are a set of Kofun-period grave goods from the Amamiyayama Tomb in Ama Goshonocho, Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture, which in 2000 were designated an Important Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records them as archaeological materials, one set, owned by the national government (Agency for Cultural Affairs) and kept at the Takatsuki City Imashirozuka Ancient History Museum.

The Agency describes bronze mirrors, iron objects such as swords, and small glass beads once strung in two or more strands, laid in the coffin, a set that shows the character of the earliest keyhole tombs well.

The Tomb and Its Finds

Takatsuki City places the Amamiyayama Tomb in Ama Goshonocho, within the city's cemetery park, and has restored the tomb to its original appearance.

The Agency lists the grave goods as bronze mirrors, iron swords and other iron objects, and glass beads. The beads were found still strung in two or more strands, a clue to how the ornament was worn.

Mirrors, swords and beads placed together in the coffin are typical of burials at the start of the Kofun period, and the Agency values this set for showing that character so clearly.

What to Look For

Takatsuki City says the restored Amamiyayama Tomb has a glass shelter in which the burial is recreated with precise replicas. Set into the explanation board is a bronze mirror cast by ancient methods, which visitors may touch.

The originals are kept at the Imashirozuka museum. Seeing the recreated burial on site and then checking the museum's displays for the objects themselves shows how tomb and grave goods fit together.

Visiting

Takatsuki City gives the Imashirozuka Ancient History Museum's hours as 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.), closed on Mondays (open on holidays), the weekday after a holiday and from 28 December to 3 January. Admission is free, though special exhibitions may charge. Check with the museum (072-682-0820) whether the Amamiyayama finds are on display.

The museum is next to the Imashirozuka Kofun-mae stop of city buses bound for Nasahara from JR Settsu-Tonda or Hankyu Tonda stations. The Amamiyayama Tomb itself is about 25 minutes' uphill walk from the Iwatebashi stop of city buses from JR Takatsuki or Hankyu Takatsukishi stations, and can be visited during cemetery hours.