446 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1953 



the tomb, probably buried at slightly later times, must have been 

 members of his family. Certain features of the tomb indicate that 

 it was built near the end of the Hofun (burial-mound tomb) Period, 

 sometime in the middle of the seventh century A. D., when the burial 

 customs were being changed by law. (For example, most of the elab- 

 orate burial-mound tombs have paved floors in the inner chamber, 

 but this one did not.) This change was brought about by the adop- 

 tion of Buddhism as the official religion of Japan, and the consequent 

 passage of laws prohibiting the construction of elaborate tombs with 

 extravagant furnishings and establishing simple burial ceremonies. 



In spite of these laws, burial-mound building continued until the 

 eighth century A. D. in the Kanto district and until about the be- 

 ginning of the ninth in the Tohoku district. However, it apparently 

 came to an end in the Kazusa district in the late seventh century, and 

 Kinreizuka can be considered to be one of the last large burial mounds 

 with a moat, a large chamber, and elaborate burial goods. 



Since the close of World War II there has been an increased in- 

 terest in the archeological remains of Japan. The scientific excava- 

 tion of Kinreizuka is an important contribution to an understanding 

 of the prehistory of Japan because no previously discovered tomb 

 has contained so many valuable artifacts. 



