A "tomb of the sea people" in a shoreline rock shelter at Isoma, Tanabe City, at the innermost part of Tanabe Bay. Outside the world of mound building, it shows how the people of southern Kii buried their dead — a uniquely Wakayama National Historic Site.
Finds & research
Eight cists, five cremations, 13 individuals; two antler-fitted iron swords (one large, one small), antler fishhooks, harpoons, whistling arrowheads, and more (ICP).
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
National Historic Site (1979); the finds became Important Cultural Properties in 1988.
Archaeological view
A kofun-period cemetery without a mound: eight small cist-style chambers and five cremation spots set on a terrace inside a sea-cut rock shelter (~23m wide, ~5m deep) on Tanabe Bay, holding 13 individuals from the end of the 5th to the early 7th century. The largest, Chamber 1, held an elderly person of around 60 and an infant laid facing each other. Fine antler work was placed in the graves, including antler-fitted iron swords, antler fishhooks, harpoons, and whistling arrowheads, and Wakayama Prefecture's heritage guide regards the site as a communal cemetery of fishing people. The Agency for Cultural Affairs regards it as important as one of the most distinctly regional burial customs formed as kofun culture spread.
Field notes
The shelter can be viewed on the shore; finds and related materials are shown at the Tanabe City Museum of History and Folklore.