Ancient Tomb Surveyed Near Japan’s Fukushima Power Plant

FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN—The Asahi Shimbun reports that researchers from Tohoku University Museum, along with government officials from the town of Futaba, employed 3-D technology to create a map of the seventh-century Kiyotosakuoketsu tomb. The tomb is located in an area of high radiation levels less than two miles away from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where a nuclear disaster occurred in 2011. “We want to collect the accurate data as this is a valuable cultural asset,” said archaeologist Atsushi Fujisawa. The tomb contains a mural that consists of a spiral pattern, people riding horses, and other animals and objects painted in red. The researchers found that white crystallized minerals have formed on part of the mural, and a tree root has grown through the ceiling of the tomb. For more, go to “Japan’s Early Anglers.”