If they ever enclosed pottery articles or treasures buried with the dead, the vandalism of the peasants robbed every one of them. Finally the light flashes; and if the spirit of the departed ancient still hovered about his grave, as men believe, and if it ... advanced far enough in the transcendental minds of the Western world to entertain the fantastic idea of a body rising from the dust to comprehend resurrection, I think it must have believed that the day of resurrection has come. The most we can say about the caves is that they are many in some. sections, that they were once used for burial, and that they probably preceded intimate rock-built dolmens.
There is not a vestige of a skeleton, not a line of inscription, nothing but the soft, half-decomposed rock that remains, to testify to the veneration accorded the dead in the past. Such is the character of the traditional mound of the first emperor, which dates from the seventh century. These measured G to 12 feet by 3 to 5 feet and the sides were 3 to G inches thick, Theiewere handles on the sides of the cover.
The date of the introduction of stone coffins is, according to Von Siebold, as stated above, from E. The place of burial is on the plain near the foot. hill, but now it is surrounded by a beautiful stone fence. A fine gravelled walk surrounds the inner enclosure, and on certain days only the people are permitted to perform their devotions outside the torii, or temple gate, which is seen in the middle of the inner wall, facing south.
This mound and other imperial tombs of the same era belong to a type which I believe is peculiar to Japan.
THE ANCIENT BURIAL MOUNDS OF JAPAN. 515
516 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891
This structure is shown in a Japanese drawing of a mound of a later date than that attributed to the double mounds, reproduced in the ui)i)er. right figure from PL xxxvii. Another measured as follows: Height, 10 inches; A slightly different form, with the lateral openings placed perpendicular to each other and at different heights, was made by Mr. Satow from the hills in Kodzuke, saying: "The hills were builtu]) in three tiers [terraces]. It was a fence of terracotta]) about 60 cm high, connected by wooden posts or bamboo, which were passed through holes about halfway up the base.".
518 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 185)1;
JAPAN'S ANCIENT BURIAL BARREL.. 519 . It is always interesting to know what the Japanese have to say about their ancient monnnients, although all conclusions from this source, even when they are established by official sanction, must be accepted subject to considerable weight as from dates as well as by sequence. in time. Most of the clay cylinders have been destroyed, and although the whole form of any of them cannot be obtained, we can still discover that some of them were made in the form of men and animals, which were used as the successors of the eminent dead. and are buried with such persons. The improvement of the "forms of men and animals" will be understood hereafter. before leaving the imperial mounds 1 will mention another, .. the mound of Shotoku Taishi, this mound contains the room which is .. now closed l)in the temple shown in PI.xlv, the gates of which are kept closed .
The base of the mondis is flanked by two concentric rowsofu[)stones to the right, the inner one distinctly older.
620 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891,
In my letter I expressed a desire to know where the coffin represented in the sketch was, and ventured to say that Collin's "were often too large to be introduced into the mounds through the galleries, as you suggest, and sometimes t ^^ o bedding.". The galleries that were discovered were so large that a large stone coffin could have been placed." It would have been very difficult to carry one of these heavy stone coffins through the long gallery into her cave. The mounds yielded many different objects buried with the dead, such as iron arrow-heads, iron rings covered with bronze, rings of l)iron or gilt bronze (PI. xi,iii), ornaments of gold and silver, swords and other weapons, chains, glass beads, mirrors, and other relics.
The burials also coutaiii pottery vessels of such shapes, some of which are iei)iiited in PI. lix. IJotli the form and style of re- novation of these vessels, rudely made, are the same as those found in the tombs of Korea. It is a remarkable fact that the decoration of the pottery from the Japanese mounds is far less elaborate than that found on the ..much older pottery of the Yezo shell and pit heaps, which are usually designated as Aino pottery.
Aino pottery is so characteristically .. marked that even the smallest fragment can be recognized at a glance, without the possibility of mistaking it for Japanese. It is difficult to explain the strange anomaly that the early pottery of a people who . are of late fame for their productions in this line of handiwork, should be inferior to the former productions of their predecessors, who have since entirely lost heart for the manufacture of pottery of any .. published by an article entitled The Ainosof Yezo, by i)new of the writer published in the museum report for l.SOO. It was a very ancient custom in Japan to bury a prince standing upright around his grave.
There are two illustrations of the course of the royal funeral, and the description says: “Many lords and ladies of the court will have to be buried alive with him to serve him in the places he will go. The kingdom of Visaponr to let the wives be buried alive near their deceased husbands, instead of burning them, as is practiced in other provinces in India.". In the time of the Jai)an ruler Suinin (97 to .'50 c. c) his younger brother died, and all who were in his immediate service were buried alive around him. "For many days they did not die, but wept and wept aloud.
When Empress Hibatsuhime no Mikotodied, the Mikado asked his officers saying, "We know that the practice of haunting the dead is not good. What should be done?" N"omi no Sukunethen said: "It is not good to bury the men who stand on these princely stands, and this cannot be given to posterity.” instead of the grave.
And as late as they- (i4(» an edict was published prohibiting the burial of living persons and also the burial of "gold, silver, brocade.
THE ANCIENT BURIAL MOUNDS OF JAPAN. 523
