It has been 50 years since the 21st day when a colorful mural was found at the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture.
While the mural paintings that have deteriorated due to mold and the like are being repaired, the condition of the stones on which the mural paintings are drawn may deteriorate, and maintenance efforts will continue.
The Takamatsuzuka Tumulus, which was built during the Asuka period from the end of the 7th century to the beginning of the 8th century, created an archaeological boom when the colorful mural paintings known as "Asuka Bijin" were discovered exactly 50 years ago.
However, the deterioration progressed rapidly due to the generation of a large amount of mold and the influence of the chemicals used for restoration, and the stone chamber of the tumulus was dismantled 15 years ago, and the stone material with the mural painting was temporarily separated by about 700 meters. Was brought to the facility.
The facility was set at a temperature and humidity that did not allow mold to grow, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs said that as a result of the restoration work, the mural paintings with conspicuous darkening were able to regain a certain degree of sharpness.
On the other hand, a new issue is the deterioration of the stone material on which the mural painting is drawn.
A total of 12 cracks have been confirmed in at least 6 stones such as the ceiling and north wall, and 5 of them may have spread after being moved to a temporary facility. I found out by interviewing.
It seems that it gradually spread due to changes in the water content of the stone and its own weight, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs has decided to carefully monitor the cracking situation by fixing it from the surroundings and monitoring it with sensors.
Nobuyuki Morii, a cultural property investigator in the Mural Painting Room of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, said, "Depending on the direction of the cracks, the mural painting may be affected. I'm talking.
"Great discovery of the century" Continued efforts to leave in the future
The colorful mural paintings of the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus were discovered 50 years ago on March 21, 1972, in an archaeological survey conducted by the Nara Prefectural Kashihara Archaeological Institute and Kansai University.
Inside the stone chamber, a group of brightly colored girls who would be called "Asuka Bijin" and guardian deities in the directions of "Genbu" and "Blue Dragon" were drawn.
The discovery of colorful burial murals was unprecedented in Japan, and was widely reported on television and newspapers as the "Great Discovery of the Century," creating an unprecedented archaeological boom.
The mural paintings will be preserved locally, and in 1976, a concrete facility was installed to control the temperature and humidity inside the stone chamber so that they would not change, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs managed it.
However, a large amount of mold was generated, and due to the influence of the chemicals used for removal, the mural painting was not announced even though the drawing line of the guardian deity "White Tiger" was almost invisible. , The attitude of the Agency for Cultural Affairs has received a great deal of criticism.
From such a background, a study group was held with the participation of experts, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs decided to change the idea of local preservation and to dismantle the stone chamber in order to protect the mural painting from deterioration.
The dismantled stone was taken to a temporary restoration facility about 700 meters away, and since then, the mural paintings have been carefully removed from mold and dirt for more than 10 years.
However, during this period, it was found that some cracks in the stone material might have spread, and there was concern about a decrease in strength. Therefore, a new facility that can be maintained in a more stable environment should be installed. Was decided on the 17th of this month.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs aims to complete this facility in eight years.
Efforts to preserve the irreplaceable mural paintings of the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus in the future will continue.
Agency for Cultural Affairs "The mystery of mural paintings can be investigated"
The stone chamber of the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus was 2 meters and 60 centimeters long from north to south, 1 meter wide from east to west, and 1 meter and 10 centimeters high, and the interior was painted white with plaster.
The eastern wall had a group of people and the blue dragon, the guardian god of the direction, the west wall had a group of people and a white tiger, and the north wall had a genbu.
Of these, the female group statue on the west wall wore colorful clothes of red, blue, and yellow, and was widely known as "Asuka Bijin."
These murals are painted with pigments made by crushing rocks.
"Zhu", which resembles the color of blood, and "patina", which is blue-green, are pigments that are also used in today's Japanese paintings. I knew.
However, some of the yellow and red paints are "mysterious paints" that make it unclear what they used, which has plagued researchers.
There was also research showing the possibility that pigments made by crushing the jewel lapis lazuli from Afghanistan were used in the blue-looking parts such as the figures and the "blue dragon" drawn on the eastern wall.
For this reason, research groups of the National Institutes for Cultural Properties, such as the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, will conduct a survey next year using a newly developed small "X-ray diffraction analyzer" that can identify substances. rice field.
According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, "the mystery of mural paintings that we did not understand until now will be investigated."