Terra cotta clay figures show tomb as it once looked

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Terra cotta clay figures show tomb as it once looked
BY NAOHIKO IZUMINO, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2009/11/25

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TAKASAKI, Gunma Prefecture--Researchers and volunteers created nearly 6,000 terra cotta clay figures, or haniwa, and laid them out as they might have looked in the fifth century as part of a nine-year project to restore an ancient tomb to its original glory.

The figures have been placed on and around the Hachimanzuka tomb, one of the Hodota group of burial mounds, which is designated by the central government as a historic site.

The Hachimanzuka tomb was believed built for a key member of an influential clan that ruled the area. The 96-meter-long burial mound is square at one end and rounded at the other to resemble a keyhole, a shape that denotes someone of high rank.

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 When it was constructed in the latter half of the fifth century, about 6,000 clay figures were placed around the structure. Many were cylindrical. The remaining figures were modeled after people, instruments, chickens, dogs and other animals.

The tomb is said to be the origin of haniwa culture in the Kanto region.

Former Gunma town, which merged into Takasaki city in 2006, started the tomb restoration project in 2000.

Participants in "Project 6,000" included members of a volunteer group organized by the Kamitsukeno-Sato Museum of Archaeology and the public.

The volunteers took haniwa-making classes organized by the museum, which is located in a corner of the Hodota graves area.

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 They mainly made the cylindrical haniwa. Each figure measures about 40 centimeters in height and about 30 cm in diameter.

The clay was worked using ancient methods. Museum staff members then dried the haniwa and baked them in a kiln owned by the museum.

It took about two or three weeks to complete each figure.

Nearly 4,000 people took part. Each haniwa maker scratched his or her name on the inside of each piece before it was sent off to the kiln for firing.

The town asked professionals to make the more difficult haniwa. They created 897 shapes in the form of people, animals and other figures.

In total, 5,651 clay figures were made for the tomb.

"In addition to all the other factors, we had to pay close attention to the weather when we dried the haniwa," said Kiheita Takahashi, 82, chairman of the voluntary group.(IHT/Asahi: November 25,2009)
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