Keywords
Architecture
General Terms
A type of tomb made in the Tumulus period, also called Kofun period. A pit was dug and lined with cut stone such that the flat side of the stone faced the interior. All four vertical surfaces were lined in order to hold back the earth. These stones can be thought of as strengthening pilings, hikaezumi 控積. Some pits are up to 7 m long. The wooden coffin was set directly on the clay floor and over time decayed to leave a concave depression which revealed the coffin's dimensions. A ceiling stone was affixed atop the entire pit. Over millennia, natural ground pressure pushed the wall stones inward. Many have been excavated revealing these conditions. Example: Chausuyama Kofun 茶臼山古墳 in Nara.