Ancient Seascape of Japan: Burial Mounds as Navigation Points
Dublin Core
Title
Ancient Seascape of Japan: Burial Mounds as Navigation Points
Description
Research of landscape using GIS is progressing in archaeology in recent years, and the significance of the
research of landscape from the sea or seascape is also being stressed. Seascape research has important
implications for understanding how people perceive the sea and adapt to the sea environment and may contribute
to the development of maritime archaeology. This study applies landscape research to Japanese archeology, so it
fit in the session of ‘History and Current Trends of Underwater Archaeology around East Asia’. This paper
examines the sea scape of the Kofun period, from the third to sixth centuries, from the viewpoint of the location
of the burial mounds and shows the possibility that some burial mounds were built as navigation points. GIS
analysis and field surveys were conducted to investigate how the burial mounds located near the coast look from
the sea and indicate that the burial mounds with good visibility from the sea were located at strategic points of
marine routes, such as lagoons and straits. The survey also revealed that the most of these burial mounds were
built in the specific period from the first to third quarters in the fourth century. This paper proposes that these
burial mounds were built as navigation points to reflect the intention of the Yamato dynasty to control maritime
traffics.
research of landscape from the sea or seascape is also being stressed. Seascape research has important
implications for understanding how people perceive the sea and adapt to the sea environment and may contribute
to the development of maritime archaeology. This study applies landscape research to Japanese archeology, so it
fit in the session of ‘History and Current Trends of Underwater Archaeology around East Asia’. This paper
examines the sea scape of the Kofun period, from the third to sixth centuries, from the viewpoint of the location
of the burial mounds and shows the possibility that some burial mounds were built as navigation points. GIS
analysis and field surveys were conducted to investigate how the burial mounds located near the coast look from
the sea and indicate that the burial mounds with good visibility from the sea were located at strategic points of
marine routes, such as lagoons and straits. The survey also revealed that the most of these burial mounds were
built in the specific period from the first to third quarters in the fourth century. This paper proposes that these
burial mounds were built as navigation points to reflect the intention of the Yamato dynasty to control maritime
traffics.
Creator
Tomo Ishimura
Publisher
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Date
2023
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
Ishimura, Tomo. 2023. “Ancient sea scape of Japan: Burial mounds as navigation points.” Edited by Jennifer Craig, Jay Mok, T. Kurt Knoerl, Akifumi Iwabuchi, and Kotaro Yamafune. In Proceedings of Fifth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Gwangju, The Republic of Korea, November 13-18 2023. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology. URL:https://apconf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/apconfproceedings/item/1890
Files
Citation
Tomo Ishimura, “Ancient Seascape of Japan: Burial Mounds as Navigation Points,” Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings, accessed September 16, 2026, https://apconf.omeka.net/items/show/1890.