<Articles>The Significance, Limitations and Prospects of Research on Tumuli and Graves by the Sea (Special Issue : SEA)

本論文では、「海を舞台とした人間活動と深い関連をもつ脈絡により、海の近くに築造された古墳」である「海の古墳」を研究することの意義と限界、そして展望を示す。まず、研究の意義として、首長墳の立地論や、海浜部の複合生産型臨海集落との関連、北方・南方の海蝕洞穴塞や海岸墓にも視点が広がることを挙げる。続いて、「規模」「立地」「海岸線と前方部の向きとの関係」という三項目での分類案を提示する。これにより、集団構成員から支配者層に至るまで、地域や時期の傾向を持って築造されたことが明らかとなる。一方、研究の限界も存在している。「海の近く」が曖昧であり、「海を舞台とした人間活動」も切り分けが難しい。それぞれ打開案を示したが、多くの分析検討の余地がある。しかし、古墳時代の生業や生産のあり方や、王権の統治原理や一般の生活論理を知る重要な糸口が、「海の古墳」から見えてくる。古代世界全体へと、研究の展望がひろがる。Within the tumuli and graves of the Kofun period in Japan, there are some situated near the sea. In this article, I define the tumuli and graves constructed near the sea by those whose livelihood was deeply connected with and centered on the sea as "tumuli and graves by the sea, " and I argue the benefit and limitations of the concept of tumuli and graves by the sea and then state the prospects for future study. In the first section, I point out the following two points regarding the significance of this research, The first became the impetus for a reevaluation of the location of tumuli. The second can be called the establishment of a perspective on tumuli and graves by the sea as one form of coastal archaeological site that earlier human societies had left in terms of the natural environment of the sea. Both have great significance in highlighting the essence of tumuli that were "tombs for ruling the land" in an overview of all tumuli society. In the second section, I classified the tumuli and graves by the sea and provided specific examples of each type. I focused on three points of classification-size, location, and the relationship of the face of the tumulus to the seashore. Among these relationships, the relationship of the face of the tumuli and the seashore was a criterion that only applied to the three types of keyhole-shaped tumulus mounds, i.e.zonpo koen fun, zenpo koho fun, and hotatekai-shiki kofun. By this method, I was able to elucidate the trends in location and period in which tumuli and graves by the sea were built from the period of members of regional groups to that of the Yamato kingdom. In the third section, I indicate the limitations currently facing the study of tumuli and graves by the sea. This, in other words, is a problem of definition. The following are the two principal definitions. The first is of limited utility for scholarship because there is a lack of sources that would clarify the extent of tumuli and graves by the sea. The second is of limited use in scholarship because the definition of "human activity centered on the sea" is unclear. There has been some excellent scholarship that allows us to overcome these limitations, but the number has been insufficient to be applied to archaeological artifacts throughout Japan. In the fourth section, I indicate future prospects of the study of tumuli and graves by the sea. The activities of production and creation that used the sea and products of the sea as resources unquestionably played a major role in the formation of political authority during the Kofun period. In addition, transport, trade, diplomacy, military and residential practices conducted near the sea because it was an archipelago were a powerful motive force in the social change of the Kofun period, The author particularly points out the contribution to theories of ancient livelihood and production and Yamato kingship through the study of tumuli and graves by the sea. Two points can be offered as the chief results of this research. First, is an effective grasp of the issues in this research due the recognition of the limitations of the methodology of the research. The study of tumuli and graves by the sea is bound by limitations. However, precisely for this reason, the issues that set the limitations are easily grasped in principle. Based on the achievements of the study of kofun, but also going beyond their boundaries, the inquiry into the Kofun period itself becomes possible through a study of tumuli and graves by the sea. Second is the fact that I succeeded in abstracting two types of logic: the logic of rule and the logic of life that coexisted in Kofun period society. The former was the logic that through the Yamato monarchy and regional rule permeated and made livelihoods productive. The latter was the logic created through the general populace living and accepting of the rulers that made a livelihood of production. All the continents on this earth are surrounded by the sea It can be assumed that constructing graves and tumuli near the seas was not rare. However, in human history, there were both eras and regions in which there was a preference for building graves and ritual sites near the seacoast and others eras and regions in which there was almost no consciousness of the seaside being a burial place. From this point of view, having conducted a comparison of sites around the world, we are likely to further clarify the special characteristics of tumuli and graves by the sea