A kofun group with Iwase-type chambers on a hill above Kuroe, the lacquerware town. Mound 1’s chamber, fitted with a stone shelf and beams, shows that the chamber type centered on the Iwase-Senzuka cluster in northern Wakayama reached the Kamenokawa basin.
Finds & research
Horizontal stone chambers (Mound 1: Iwase-type with one shelf and four beams).
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
Mounds 1 to 3 are Wakayama Prefectural Historic Sites (designated 1958).
Archaeological view
A group of seven mounds (mainly round) on Mt. Oyama (~96m) above Kuroe, Kainan, whose burial facilities include both horizontal and pit-style stone chambers. The chamber of Mound 1 (main room 3.1m long, 3.0m high) carries one stone shelf and four stone beams — an Iwase-type chamber; beams are described as very rare outside the Iwase-Senzuka cluster. A curator at the prefectural Kii-fudoki-no-oka museum suggests such chambers may indicate close ties between the chieftains of the lower Kamenokawa River and powers such as the Ki clan. The prefecture dates the group to the late 6th–early 7th century, while the curator dates Mound 1 to the mid-6th century.
Field notes
On Mt. Oyama at Kuroe, Kainan. Mounds 1–3 are a prefectural Historic Site, and some of the chambers are open. Check with Kainan City before visiting about entering the chambers.