12:15-12:45Prof. Sasaki Ken'ichi, Meiji University
"Archaeological Investigations of the Dainichizuka Mounded Tomb”
Abstract from the Presentation: I will report on the major results of analysis of haniwa ceramic figurines excavated at the Dainichizuka Mounded Tomb in southern Ibaraki Prefecture, 50 miles northeast of Tokyo. I excavated the Dainichizuka Mounded Tomb in March and August, 2015, and discovered large quantities of haniwa ceramic figurines. The most notable are a fairly complete haniwa ceramic model of a house and three fairly complete haniwa ceramic figurines of female shamans. In comparison to other examples of haniwa ceramic models of houses, the Dainichizuka find is a model of a residential structure, rather than a storehouse or ritual structure. This distinction is based on the existence of two windows, as opposed to only one window for a storehouse, and walls that support the roof, rather than pillars. More than five ledges are typical of the Ibaraki region in the late sixth century. And as to haniwa ceramic figurines of female shamans, the morphology of apricot-shaped eyes is typical of the Lake Kasumigaura region, and distinguished from the central Ibaraki region, where the bottom line of the eye is straight. The hair style of the three viewed from the top looks like a fundō weight of a Tokugawa-period balance. This hair style is typical of the Kanto region in the late sixth century. These observations all support a previous interpretation that the Dainichizuka Mounded Tomb was built at some point in the late sixth century.
