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Octagonal tumulus 7th century Asuka-mura, Koshi, Tsukamae
This crypt consists of two rooms hollowed out of a large block of porous limestone and was designed for the burial of a husband and wife. The floor is equipped with stone platforms on which to place the coffins. There was a double layer of stones blocking the doorway but they now lie overturned in front of the entrance. Of a number of cut stones which were placed around the perimeter of the original tumulus. nine re-main. From their shapes and angles. one may speculate that the tumulus probably had eight sides. These cut stones placed on the tumulus perimeter draw on the same tradition as the goseki ("protective stones") placed around Korean kofun in the area of ancient Silla and elsewhere. Fragments of the two coffins, made of dried lacquer, have been excavated.
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