Knife, armor from Japan’s largest ancient keyhole-shaped tomb found

OSAKA, Jun 19 (Kyodo/APP): A gold-plated iron knife and armor fragments, believed to have been made with advanced 5th-century techniques, have been confirmed as coming from Japan’s largest ancient keyhole-shaped tomb mound, a university said Thursday.

The Daisen Kofun in Osaka Prefecture is under control of the Imperial Household Agency as the mausoleum of Emperor Nintoku, who is said to have reigned in the 4th century, but academic debate continues about who was actually buried there.

The artifacts, wrapped in paper labeled “Emperor Nintoku’s tomb,” were recently acquired by Tokyo-based Kokugakuin University from an art dealer. They had previously been held by a collector who joined a survey of the tomb in 1872.