Wakayama Prefectural Kiifudoki-no-oka has been conducting excavations of the Iwase Senzuka tumulus group since July 2021 in conjunction with the construction of the Prefectural Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (tentative).
The survey uncovered four new tombs, one of which is presumed to belong to a local authority. On March 26, a public information meeting was held for that tomb and another one.
Iwase Senzuka Tumulus Group consists of approximately 900 burial mounds which are built from around the end of the 4th century to the middle of the 7th century, on hills ranging from 80 to 150 meters above sea level.
Of the tombs discovered this time, the stone chamber of Maeyama B370 (tentative) is presumed to be an Iwase-type side-hole tomb, a 16-20 meter round burial mound, and experts believe that it was the tomb of an influential local person based on the secondary burial goods and its size.
The smaller Mayama B369 (tentative) is about 3 meters long and has a T-shaped stone chamber. This tomb is presumed to be a one-man burial mound.
Kiifudoki-no-oka plans to backfill and preserve these newly discovered tombs.
