The Remains of Ancient Tomb Called Maruyama, Yamanashi Prefecture

Abstract

This ancient tomb of Shimosone-village, Yamanashi Prefecture, was excavated in the 40th year of Meiji. Those remains found at this place are now belong to the Anthropological Institute of Tokyo Imperial University.Among remains discovered there are an ancient bronze mirror from China, various iron implements, such as swords, daggers, axes, a spear-head, arrow-heads etc., also with a jasper bracelet. Some bifurcated harpoon-like iron implements are distinguishable. Near by this mound, there is another huge tomb called Choshizuka, with was excavated at the top of it in the 3rd year of Showa, and a little stone chamber came to light which had the same construction with that of Maruyama.The remains from Choshizuka now in the Inperial Household Museum of Tokyo contain three bronze mirrors from China, two imitations of them, magatama and other ornamental objects, swords, daggers, bracelets and other articles of jasper, a shell bracelet, stone model postles, etc.It would be said that both Maruyama and Choshizuka perhaps be built during about the same period, i, e., IV-V century A. D., judging from the resemblance of the stone-chamber construction and sorts and characters of remains found. A noble who buried at Maruyama would probably have some relation with the one who was in the Choshizuka. Discoveries of bronze mirrors from China at these mounds should told how high grade of culture had already been in this local part ; the reason why the situation denote should perhaps be debted to the wandering of people from Kinai, the cultural center at that time, to Kai Province, as some ancient historical records suggest, though the vestiges of neolithic and eneolithic culture are found in the froms of some iron implements and their technics.