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Sue ware (wheel thrown stoneware) was manufactured from the Middle Kofun period on and includes ring-shaped vessels (kanjō hei). Their shapes resemble flat water bottles (sagebe; hanging bottle) or sake vessels (hirabe; funnel-shaped jug, flagon with closed, wide vessel body). This Sue ware was initially thought to yield only from the first half of the 7th century AD in the ancient province Aki (western part of Hiroshima Prefecture), but recently they have been unearthed all over the country. One discovered them not only in corridor-style stone chambers with horizontal lateral entrance from the first half of the 7th century AD but also in kiln sites which are dated between the second half of the 7th century AD and the middle of the 8th century AD. It can be classified into three types according to the manufacturing technique. To distinguish between older and younger types one can make judgements on the basis of the cross sections and decorative patterns of the bodies. The later evolve from circular to quadrilateral ones. Older body patterns also consist of a row of punctions while newer ones comprise wavy line patterns. The most recent ones are undecorated. Ring-shaped vessels were made between the first half of the 7th century AD and the middle of the 8th century AD. Although manufacturing technique and pattern composition changed during this production phase, it indicates that the cultures of the Kofun and Nara periods were not mutually exclusive.

The Department of Archaeology at Hiroshima University has carried out archaeological surveys at Jōmon rock shelters and cave sites in the vicinity of Taishaku-kyō in northeastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture for more than 50 years. However, to date, open sites in this region have not been investigated respectively, because none have been detected. A range of open sites in the vicinity of Taishaku-kyō were located and surveyed in this study in order to develop hypotheses regarding modes-of-life during the Jōmon period. Thus, one initially investigated a series of finds that had already been unearthed by chance as the result of agricultural land consolidation or cultivation in Toyomatsu village in the northern part of town of Jinseki-kōgen, formerly Toyomatsu village in the Jinseki district (gun). This town is located on the eastern side of the Taishaku-kyō area and all the artefacts examined were the property of the late Mr. Gunji INOHIRA, who collected them, compiled records, and left a series of documents regarding the remains of these sites before they were destroyed more than 20 years ago. These documents are therefore important reference materials enabling a deeper understanding of the archaeological sites in Toyomatsu village. This collection includes pottery of the Jōmon and Yayoi period, as well as stone tools from the Late Jōmon and the Middle Yayoi periods, and Sue ware, beads (necklaces), and ironware etc. from the Late Kofun period. The important “INOHIRA collection” is introduced in this report and some considerations regarding the archaeological sites in Toyomatsu village are presented.

At Hiroshima University Department of Archaeology, two kinds of decorated Sue ware vessels are exhibited: one ring-shaped ceramic vessel (kanjō hei) and a bird-shaped vessel (torigata hei). Both forms resemble flat water bottles (sagebe; hanging bottle) or sake vessels (hirabe; funnel-shaped jug, flagon with closed, wide vessel body). These two kinds of unglazed but decorated ceramic vessels were initially thought to yield only from the ancient province Aki (western part of Hiroshima Prefecture) in the 7th century AD. In cooperation with the Shimadzu Techno-Research, Inc. and its facilities there was an opportunity to examine both vessels using X-ray computed tomography (CT) respectivly fluoroscopy imaging technique. An advanced X-ray CT fluorescence apparatus, Shimadzu inspeXio SMX -225CT FPD HR, which applies a high voltage (220KV) with a micro-focus X-ray was utilized to enable novel image processing to obtain clear images. Due to this state of the art scanner it was possible to clarify the manufacturing techniques of these Sue ware vessels.

The Naga-une mounded tomb No.10 is supposed to be a round or scallop shell-shaped mounded tomb located in Mirasaka-chō, Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture. As part of “Field Practice in Archaeology C” for the twenty-fifth annual class of archaeology majors at the Hiroshima University School of Letters, we conducted a topographic survey of this mound with the aim of clarifying its scale, shape and the date of its construction. This mounded tomb has been altered by land reclamation for a vineyard, however, we could reconstruct its shape according to the plan, based on some parts that so far remained in good condition. The results of this survey indicated that the Naga-une mounded tomb is a scallop shell-shaped mounded tomb of the Kofun period, 19.5m in length and was constructed in the second half of the 6th century AD (additional interment may be performed at the beginning of the 7th century). This allows the conclusion that the building of small scallop shell-shaped mounded tombs also continued in the second half of the Late Kofun period. Additionally, we assumed the possibility that this mound has a corridor-style stone chamber with horizontal side entrance because of the additional interment, and that many kinds of the Sue ware were put on the floor of this chamber, which was typical in the regions of Miyoshi and Shōbara City in the northern part of Hiroshima Prefecture and the San’in region.

The Shinjō-ryūō mounded tomb No.1 is a scallop shell-shaped mound tomb located in Shinjō-chō, Shōbara City, Hiroshima Prefecture. In March 2007, as part of “Field Practice in Archaeology C” for the sixteenth annual class of archaeology majors at the Hiroshima University School of Letters, we conducted a topographic survey of this mound with the aim of creating a detailed survey map and clarifying its historical significance. The results of this survey indicated that the Shinzō-ryūō mounded tomb No.1 is a scallop shell-shaped mounded tomb of the Kofun period with 51.9m in length. In addition, according to the possibility that the mound shape is similar to that of the Maruyama-jinja mounded tomb No.1 and the change of the surface shape of the rectangular part of scallop shell-shaped mounded tombs in Hiroshima Prefecture, we draw the conclusion that the Shinjōryūō mounded tomb No.1 was constructed around the end of the 4th century to the early 5th century AD. As a result, the Shinjō-ryūō mounded tomb No.1 is the oldest among the scallop shell-shaped mounded tombs of the fifth century in the vicinity of the cities of Miyoshi and Shōbara in the northern part of Hiroshima Prefecture.