Geotechnical Characteristics and Construction Methods of Yoshinogari Fun-Kyu Tomb in Japan and Tu-Dun Tombs in China

Abstract

In the present study, two styles of ancient tombs, namely, Fun-kyu tomb located in Japan and Tu-Dun tomb in China were introduced first from the archaeological and cultural point of view. They are important historical patrimonies and it is archaeologically inferred that the style of Fun-kyu tomb originated from that of Tu-Dun tomb. In order to make clear the geotechnical properties and the construction methods of these man-made earthworks, geotechnical in situ investigations and laboratory tests were conducted on Yoshinogari Fun-kyu tomb in Japan and four Tu-Dun tombs in China during the two periods of 1993 and 2000 2001. The results of these investigations and tests will be introduced and discussed here.

Thomas Knopf, Werner Steinhaus & Shin'ya Fukunaga (ed.). Burial mounds in Europe and Japan: comparative and contextual perspectives (Comparative and Global Perspectives on Japanese Archaeology 1). 2018. Oxford: Archaeopress; 978-1-78969-007-1 £38.

“…One aspect that is not fully addressed in this volume is the construction process of burial mounds, although Japanese archaeologists do seem to focus more on the mound itself, than do their European colleagues. This is illustrated by (among others) T. Nakakubo (Chapter 2) and a geotechnical study undertaken on the mounded tomb of Yoshinogari (150 BC) in northern Kyushū (Onitsuka et al 2003). Particularly interesting is the segmented structure of the keyholeshaped mounded tomb Kurazuka in Ōsaka (sixth century AD), where the round rear mound was divided into 8-10 sectors by radially arranged earth blocks (Nakakubo, Chapter 2).…”