OSAKA, JAPAN—The Mainichi reports that an investigation of Daisen Kofun, a large, keyhole-shaped burial mound on the island of Honshu, has revealed that one of the dikes surrounding it was paved with white stones. The tomb, which is surrounded by a total of three moats and two dikes, is thought to have been built in the mid-fifth century A.D. for Emperor Nintoku. Little is known about the structure, however, because in the past access to it has been limited by Japan’s Imperial Household Agency. Scholars think the mound itself was covered with some 50 million stones. The discovery of paving on the inner dike, which covers an area of about 78,000 square yards, increases the estimated amount of labor that was required to build the tomb complex. “This is overwhelmingly unique,” commented archaeologist Kazuo Ichinose of Kyoto Tachibana University. To read about another recent discovery in Japan, go to “Samurai Nest Egg.”
