Mitsudera

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Location

Mitsudera ( Japanese 三 ツ 寺 遺跡 , Mitsudera iseki or 三 ツ 寺 I 遺跡 , Mitsudera ichi iseki ) is an archaeological site from the late Kofun period in the Mitsudera district of Takasaki municipality in Gunma prefecture . It is a mansion that lies at the foot of the Haruma volcano and was discovered during construction work on the Jōetsu Shinkansen elevated railway and excavated in 1981. For a while, this was the only 5th century mansion in Japan. In 2000, a similar facility was discovered at the Kitayatsu ( 北 谷 遺跡 ) site three kilometers away .

overview

The mansion had a square footprint of 86 × 86 m with small protrusions on three of the four corners. The grounds of the manor were well fortified and surrounded by a 30 to 40 m wide and 3.5 m deep moat. The moat itself, which was fed by the groundwater, was rectangular with an edge length of 100 × 150 m. The excavated earth was heaped up within the site to form an approx. One meter high wall and provided with a two-row palisade fence.

The complex was divided into a northern and a southern half by a fence. In the southern part there was a building with recessed posts and a hexagonal border, which was provided with stone paving ( 葺 (き) 石 , fukiishi ). This stone paving, which can also be found in the moat, was also used on the barrows in the late Kofun period. In the area of ​​this house mirrors, comma-shaped pearls ( magatama ) and swords were also found that either belonged to the ruling family living here or that had been used for ritual purposes.

In the north of the complex there were small earth pit houses and buildings that probably served as supplies and as homes for the retinue. Agricultural tools and ceramic vessels were found in this area. Here there was also a bridge over the moat through which one could enter the interior of the manor. The water supply was ensured by wooden water pipes.

Further settlement remains have been excavated in the immediate vicinity of the manor. Only about one kilometer away is the Hotoda group of burial mounds ( 保 渡 田 古墳 群 , Hotoda kofungun ) with three keyhole-shaped kofunas . Since these barrows were built at the same time, it is believed that they are the tombs of the Lords of Mitsudera. Presumably the manor was abandoned after the eruption of the Haruma volcano in the 6th century.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 三 ツ 寺 I 遺跡 . In: 百科 事 典 マ イ ペ デ ィ ア at kotobank.jp. Retrieved September 13, 2013 (Japanese).
  2. ↑ 三 ツ 寺 I 遺跡 . In: ブ リ タ ニ カ 国際 大 百科 事 典 . 2011 (digital edition).
  3. ↑ 群 馬 の 遺跡 ・ 出土 品 三 ツ 寺 Ⅰ 遺跡 . Gunma Archaeological Research Foundation, 2009, accessed September 13, 2013 (Japanese).
  4. ↑ 北 谷 遺跡 . In: 国 指定 史跡 完全 ガ イ ド at kotobank.jp. Retrieved September 13, 2013 (Japanese).
  5. ↑ 特集 古代 ぐ ん ま の 東 国 文化 2 . (No longer available online.) Gunma Prefecture, archived from the original August 8, 2014 ; Retrieved September 13, 2013 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pref.gunma.jp
  6. ↑ a b Akihiro Kaneda: 4.07 A mansion from the Kofun period , in: Time of Dawn. Volume 1, catalog volume, 2004, pp. 261-262
  7. ↑ Werner Steinhaus: Small dictionary on Japanese archeology . epubli, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86931-803-5 (For the term "stone paving" see the dictionary by W. Steinhaus).

Coordinates: 36 ° 22 ′ 30.9 ″  N , 138 ° 59 ′ 32.9 ″  E