National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

The Tomio Maruyama Tumulus, a circular burial mound from around the end of the first half of the Kofun period (ca. 250-ca. 600), is located in Maruyama, Owada-cho, Nara City. With a diameter of 86 meters and height of 10 meters, this tumulus is one of the largest of its kind. The enclosure inside is made of clay. An excavation team unearthed artifacts which included iron farming tools and utensils along with cylindrical copper ware. Several mirrors decorated with triangular rims and god-and-animal motifs, as well as stone and bronze ware (now part of the museum collection) were reportedly unearthed long ago. This is one of the most important tumuli for the study of the first half of the Kofun period in the northern part of Yamato (present-day Nara Prefecture).