Forms and materials of wooden cofns of the Edo Period recovered from Hatchobori 3-chome Site, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Abstract

This paper discusses cultural implication of tub-shaped and box-shaped wooden coffins from the Hatchobori 3-chome Site (early half of the 17th century), Chuo-ku, Tokyo. The site is a typical commoners’ graveyard of the age, and the research focus was set on social hierarchy represented by the burial style. Altogether 1418 pieces of wooden artifacts from the site were identified wood anatomically. In addition, grain and thickness of the coffin boards were studied. Tub-shaped wooden coffins and tubs for cremated bones were mainly made of Chamaecyparis pisifera, whereas box-shaped coffins were made of Cryptomeria japonica, Chamaecyparis obtusa, and Chamaecyparis pisifera. The diversity of taxa suggests that those box-shaped coffins were made of used timbers. This shows clear difference from typical coffins for Shogun and Daimyo families, probably representing their social distinction. Moreover, boards of tub-shaped coffins tended to be thinner in the later age of the site, especially in those of Chamaecyparis obtusa and Chamaecyparis pisifera. According to pollen and historical records, Chamaecyparis pisifera probably grew in the Kiso and Tenryu valleys, and the studied coffins were considered to have been mass-produced using timbers imported from those areas. On this basis, it is assumed that eventual scarcity of trees caused by increasing demands for timbers in the city areas resulted in coffins made of thinner boards of diversified species. Absence of social hierarchy among wooden coffins at the site seemed to show a transitional phase at the beginning of the Edo period to the strict hierarchy established in the middle 17th century.