GOLDEN BELLS TOMB — ^HIRANO AND TAKIGUCHI 439 



the people who disposed of their dead with elaborate ceremonies in 

 burial-mound tombs, for this small region around Kisarazu is dotted 

 with over a hundred burial mounds of all varieties. 



CONSTRUCTION OF THE GOLDEN BELLS TOMB 



In 1932, during road building which was cutting off the square 

 front of the tomb Kinreizuka, some gilded bronze shoes and horse 

 trappings were found at the entrance of the tomb. Unfortunately, 

 scientific excavation could not be undertaken at that time. In suc- 

 ceeding years sand drifted into the area and silted over the tomb. 

 Finally, in May 1950, archeological excavation was begun by the 

 Chiba Prefectural Board of Education and the Archeological Insti- 

 tute of Waseda University. The work continued until the end of 

 July 1950, when the tomb was completely uncovered. 



Careful preparatory work had preceded the construction of the 

 tomb and the burial mound of earth over it. First the ground had 

 been leveled and hardened by beating and then covered with a layer 

 of brown soil, 27 centimeters thick. On top of this material was a 

 7-centimeter layer of clay paving, with the space for the stone cham- 

 ber in the middle hardened again by beating. Upon this hardened 

 foundation a room was built of sandstone blocks, quarried from the 

 neighborhood. This chamber was 12 meters long and 3i/^ meters 

 wide. The long side of the structure faces the east. The wall height 

 at the entranceway measures 1.2 meters and in the interior 2.2 meters. 

 It is divided into two sections, a front room and an imier room. The 

 floor of the front room is paved with a large chlorite schist slab 82 

 centimeters long and 56 centimeters thick, while the inner room has a 

 floor of clay 10 centimeters thick. These rooms were made by stacking 

 chlorite schist stone slabs (20-30 centimeters wide, 50-100 centimeters 

 long, and 50-70 centimeters thick) on top of one another, sloping 

 inward slightly in what is known architecturally as a "false" or 

 corbeled arch. 



The ceiling to the chamber had been made of nine rock slabs laid 

 across these rock-slab walls. One of the slabs had slipped off, since 

 it had not been long enough, and had fallen slantwise into the room. 

 Others had been taken away by looters, and the entranceway had been 

 broken, and so the exact structural details of these features could not 

 be determined. Loose sand filtering through the cracks had filled the 

 entire room. However, it was evident that in the original construction 

 everything possible had been done to prevent the infiltration of sand. 



The spaces between the rock slabs were chinked with small pebbles. 

 Upon the ceiling and wall surfaces, both interior and exterior, there 

 were thick (50 centimeters) layers of clay. Upon the exterior of the 

 clay-plastered rock structure of inner rooms, the dirt had been packed 



284725—54 29 



