Mystery No.3 What existed inside kofun? (Burial facility)

Since kofun is a mounded tomb, it usually has a facility to bury the dead. In ancient China and the Korean Peninsula, after burial facility was made underground, earth was heaped up over it, where as in Japan, the facility was made inside the mound. Those burial facilities differed, depending on the period. From the mid-third to around the end of the fifth centuries, a hole was dug at the top of the mound, the coffin was placed, and then, stones were used to cover the coffin. This is called ‘pit-style stone chamber’. From around the sixth century, stone-built chambers and corridors were made on the ground. After a coffin was placed inside the chamber, it was covered with earth to make a mound. This is called ‘corridor-style stone chamber’. Shapes of coffin and its materials also differed, depending on the period and each kofun. In fact, while some coffins made of stones from Hyogo and Kumamoto prefectures were found, wooden ones were also excavated. At Mozu Kofungun, most kofun had pit-style chambers, and in other parts of the city, corridor-style chambers were also found.