TRENDS IN ARCHAEOLOGY IN JAPANKofun Period
SUZUKI Kazunao1
Fiscal 2015 Kofun period study saw outstanding publication of many excavation reports
and regional study meetings other than publication of individual study. Progress of thestudy by enhanced documentation is remarkable due to reexamination of fundamental
data regarding mounded tombs researched in the past, such as Nara National Museum
Gojo-Nekozuka Kofun no Kenkyu (Study on Gojo-Nekozuka Mounded Tomb). Study
meetings related to mounded tombs (such as Zenpokoenfun Kenkyukai in Kyushu,Chugoku, Shikoku, Tohoku, and Kanto, as well as Umi no Kofun wo Kangaerukai) are
held periodically in various places making steady results. Exhibitions and symposia forthe public were popular. Many proceedings and pictorial records with each result were
published, making it possible to learn about discussions in each region.
The following three books should be mentioned as outstanding publications. WADA
Seigo’s Kofun Jidai no Seisan to Ryutsu (Production and Distribution in the Kofun
Period) (Yoshikawa Kobunkan) clearly indicated the Kofun period viewpoint which
regards Kofun period economy as inseparable from the political system and religion.
KAWANISHI Hiroyuki’s Datsu-Shinka no Kokogaku (Archaeology of Anti-evolution)(Doseisha) organized the transition of settlement formation in various places in the worldusing methodology of comparative archaeology, connecting the rise and fall of humanactivities and settlement study of the Kofun period. SASO Mamoru’s Kami to Shisha noKokogaku (Archaeology on Gods and the Deceased) (Yoshikawa Kobunkan) examined
the latest research results on the relationship of worship and mounded tomb rituals,
trying to unify ritual study of the Kofun period. A deeping of examination is expected on
how such systematic studies should be related to individual study in various parts of thecounty. Also, major discussions on the beginning of Early Kofun or Middle Kofun could
easily be grasped in Kodaishi Kenkyu no Saizensen Yamataikoku (The Latest AncientStudy: Yamataikoku) (Yosensha) and HIROSE Kazuo ed. Kikan Kokogaku/Bessatsu 22Chuki Kofun to Sono Jidai (No. 22 Separate Edition of Archaeology Quarterly: MiddleKofun and Its Age).
As technology for three dimensional measurements progresses, studies using highly
1 c/o

Cultural Properties Division, Hamamatsu City, 103–2 Motoshiro-cho, Naka Ward, Hamamatsu
City, Shizuoka 430–8652, Japan
E-mail address not disclosed
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accurate survey maps are being developed in various places. It is expected that furtherdiscussion will be possible if creation and publication of highly accurate survey maps
becomes a common practice in the future.
On burial facilities of mounded tombs, there were many discussion on nendokaku(wooden cofﬁn covered with clay). As for horizontal stone chamber study, examinations
were conducted on interrelationships between various parts of the country, beyond theframework of individual study within the same region. As for study on goods buried
with the dead, there was a high interest in metal objects. Discussions were made to grasp
the history of buried objects from their production to distribution and burial, based on
examples of burial of many weapons and armor.
A study meeting on Japan-Korea exchanges, “Nikkan 4–5 Seiki no Doki/Tekki Seisan
to Shuraku (Village and Production of Pottery/Irons Tool in 4th to 5th Century Japanand Korea) was held. Although it is becoming clear that there is a strong relationshipwith the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula as far as characteristics of pottery,the major place of exchange in goods buried in mounded tombs is the southeastern partof the Korean Peninsula. Future problems on how to systematically organize complicatedexchanges between Japan and Korea in the Kofun period are becoming clearer. Asfor handicraft production/techniques, there were many studies on Haji ware, and there
were works with multiple viewpoints such as handling both horse production and ironproduction. As for settlement study, interests were paid to villages for migrants orvillages near the sea.

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