大阪歴史博物館　Osaka Museum of History

Overview of the exhibition

The Osaka Museum of History will hold a special exhibition titled “Grand March of Haniwa Clay Objects: Nagahara Burial Mound Cluster and Nagahara Site” in the Special Exhibition Hall on the 6th floor from January 26 (Sat.) to March 17 (Sun.), 2019.

The southern part of Hirano Ward in Osaka City is home to the Nagahara Site consisting of composite remains spanning multiple time periods from the Paleolithic period to the Early Modern period. Excavations of the site, which started in 1974, have uncovered more than 200 burial mounds constructed during the Kofun period and shed light on the ancient village (settlement) and a variety of production activities conducted there. This exhibition will provide an overview of the Kofun period in Osaka, focusing on burial practices, how people lived, and production activities.

Section 1 of the exhibition will showcase representational and cylindrical haniwa characteristic of the Nagahara burial mound cluster, as well as major boat-shaped haniwa unearthed in the Kinki region, including those designated as National Important Cultural Properties from the Nagahara-Takamawari No. 1 and No. 2 burial mounds. Section 2 of the exhibition will provide a whole picture of the Nagahara burial mound cluster built from the end of the early Kofun period to the late Kofun period (from the late 4th century to the 6th century), grouping the discoveries into four chronological stages. Section 3 of the exhibition will spotlight the village in the Nagahara Site where the buried persons used to live.

By focusing on the Nagahara Site, which was built around the same time as the Mozu, Furuichi and other huge burial mound clusters, the exhibition aims to shed light on ancient Osaka, a developed region during the Kofun period.