ANCIENT HUMAN BONES WITH MERCURIC COSMETICS EXCAVATED FROM THE BURIAL MOUND OF KANZO-YAMA IN TOKUSHIMA

Abstract

A complete human skeleton was excavated from a burial mound built in the 6 th Century(Kofun period of Japan) at the top of Kanzo-yama hill of Itano-cho, Tokushima. Most of the cranio-facial bones, neck and upper thoracic bones appeared reddishly painted with mercuric cosmetics(mercuric sulfide). Bones were mostly laid ventral-up in the anatomical arrangement ; the cranium was dolico-cephalic(73.0 in cranial index), the midface low(54.7 in Kollmann index), and the nose middle(47.1 in nasal index). This is one of the most well-preserved excavations of human remains of the Kofun period of Toku- shima, an adult male estimated to be 162 cm in height.