Tomb in Japan Yields 1,500-Year-Old Breastplate

SHIBUSHI, JAPAN—The Asahi Shimbun reports that a 1,500-year-old tunnel tomb containing a stone coffin, human remains, and armor was discovered during road work in southern Kyushu. The tomb consisted of a burial chamber measuring about nine feet long, six feet wide, and three feet deep, and was connected to a nine-foot-long vertical shaft. Tatsuya Hashimoto of Kagoshima University Museum said the Kofun Period tomb is thought to have belonged to a local chieftain who received the breastplate, known as a tanko, from the Yamato imperial court. The breastplate was found standing beside the coffin. An iron arrowhead, a spear, and an iron ax were also recovered. For more, go to “Japan’s Early Anglers.”