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Imperial Tomb Mapped
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Volume 50 Number 4, July/August 1997
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by Walter Edwards
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Japanese archaeologists have been allowed to map two fifth-century imperial tombs in Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, indicating a shift in policy by the Imperial Household Agency, which until now had prohibited all research at such sites (see "Japan's New Past," ARCHAEOLOGY, March/April 1997). Legend holds that these two mounds belong to an early imperial ancestor, Ninigi, grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and his wife. The burials are part of a larger tomb complex to be preserved as a historical park. A three-dimensional model based on the survey is being made for public display at the site. The agency stopped short, however, of permitting excavation of the mounds.
© 1997 by the Archaeological Institute of America
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