Surrounding moat

Japanese: 周濠 - しゅうごう

In archaeology, this usually refers to a moat excavated around a kofun. Many of them are flooded, but some are dry moats. In the former, it is generally believed that the moat changed from one with ridges dividing the mound and a stepped water surface to one with the ridges removed and the water surface at the same height all around. In addition to moats of the same width running along the mound, keyhole-shaped tombs are often shield-shaped (including horseshoe-shaped), and keyhole-shaped tombs are often rectangular. In the middle of the Kofun period, there was a remarkable development as part of the development of external facilities in response to the enlargement of the mounds, and in the Furuichi-Mozu Kofun Group in Osaka Prefecture, double or triple shield-shaped moats were excavated under a unified plan with the mound.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

考古学では普通，古墳の周囲に掘られた堀をさす。湛水しているものが多いが，空濠の場合もある。前者では一般に，濠が畦で区切られ，水面が階段状をなすものから，畦がとれ，水面が同じ高さで一周するものへと変遷したと考えられている。形は墳丘に沿って同じ幅の周濠がめぐるもののほかに，前方後円墳では盾形(馬蹄形も含む)，前方後方墳では長方形のものが多い。古墳時代中期には，墳丘の巨大化に伴う外部施設の整備の一環として，著しい発達をとげ，大阪府古市･百舌鳥（もず）古墳群などでは，墳丘との統一企画のもとに，二重，三重の盾形周濠が掘削された。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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