14 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The ruins found in Nara could be the Imperial House of Female Emperor Koken

Archaeologists unearthed one of the largest building remains ever found at the former site of the Heijokyu palace in the ancient city of Nara, Japan.

The findings were announced on June 30 by the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties at the government-designated special historic site.

It’s thought that the edifice served as the centerpiece of a late-eighth-century home for emperors and crown princes. According to one scholar, the structure was a most likely residence for female Emperor Koken (718-770).

According to the institute, archaeologists began investigating a 924-square-meter site in Toin’s northern region in March. Toin is located in the eastern part of the Heijokyu palace, the nerve center of politics during the Nara Period (710-784).

They unearthed ruins of a rectangular-shaped structure, which spans 27 meters in an east-west direction and 12 meters in a north-south direction. Also found were 50 pits dug in the ground to place pillars into them. The holes are lined up about 3 meters apart.

Heijokyu palace in Nara
Ruins of what appears to be a cooking stove found among the remains of a structure unearthed at the former site of the Heijokyu palace in Nara. This photo was taken on June 30. (Takuya Tanabe)

The building, supported by pillars placed in a grid-like formation, likely served as a living space, according to the institute.

Based on the characteristics of a pattern on roof tiles found in pits, researchers calculated that the edifice stood there between 749 and 770 during the Nara Period. During the building’s nearly 20-year lifetime, Koken ruled from 749 to 758 before abdicating in favor of Emperor Junnin. Koken, who was believed to have liked a Buddhist monk named Dokyo, again to the throne as Emperor Shotoku from 764 to 770.

The imperially commissioned history literature on the Nara Period, “Shoku Nihongi,” says that Emperor Shomu (701-756), Koken’s father, lived in Toin when he was crown prince. Later, the area was used to construct an emperor’s home.

“Koken particularly liked Toin, according to Shoku Nihongi,” said Akihiro Watanabe, a professor of Japanese ancient history at Nara University. “I believe the (discovered) structure was her living space.”

The institute said it plans to post a video of the ruins on its official YouTube channel in late July. 

Source: The Asahi Shimbun, Cover Photo: Takuya Tanabe

Related Articles

Medieval gold ‘lynx’ earrings from Ani Ruins

29 December 2022

29 December 2022

A pair of lynx-shaped gold earrings have been unearthed near the ruins of Ani, the once great metropolis known as...

A Medieval Necropolis Discovered During Excavations at the site of the Future Bus Station in Sozopol, Bulgaria

4 April 2024

4 April 2024

A medieval necropolis was discovered during excavations at the construction site of a bus station in the old seaside town...

New studies confirm that there was indeed a shipyard at Lothal, the commercial center of the Harappan civilization and world’s oldest port

6 September 2024

6 September 2024

Since the discovery of Harappan sites at Lothal, located about 30 kilometers inland from the coast of the Gulf of...

An 8,200-year-old temple structure found in Çatalhöyük

6 September 2022

6 September 2022

An 8,200-year-old temple structure was found during the 30th excavation season of the excavations at Çatalhöyük, one of the first...

Colossae Ancient City Excavation Works Begin

8 September 2021

8 September 2021

Excavations of the ancient city of Colossae, located in the Honaz district of Denizli province in western Turkey, are starting...

Bronze Age Ceremonial Sword Found in Håre in Vestfyn will be on Display Soon

13 March 2021

13 March 2021

Archaeologists excavating the village of Håre on the island of Funen in Denmark have discovered an ornate Bronze Age sword...

Medieval Hub of Arts & Crafts Center discovered in Nola: The discovery could rewrite the history of early medieval Nola

23 August 2023

23 August 2023

On the outskirts of Nola, a district from the early Middle Ages has been discovered. According to the Soprintendenza Archeologia,...

Restoration of the Duomo of Florence has revealed original polychrome paint

1 December 2022

1 December 2022

During the restoration of the Porta dei Cornacchini and the marble cladding of the northern side of Florence’s Duomo, extensive...

Hundreds of silver coins have been found near the castle of Lukov in Moravia

4 September 2021

4 September 2021

In the forest near the Southern Moravian Fortress Lukov, two members of the Society of Friends of the Lukov Fortress...

Was the mystery of Noceto Vasca Votiva the water ritual?

13 June 2021

13 June 2021

The Noceto Vasca Votiva is a one-of-a-kind wood building discovered in 2005 on a tiny hill in northern Italy. The...

Archaeologists Uncover Asini’s Hidden Ancient Port Beneath the Waves of Greece

11 March 2025

11 March 2025

An international team of underwater archaeologists has made a groundbreaking discovery at the submerged site of Asini, near Tolo in...

From ‘Empty Lands’ to Rich History: Discovery of the First Bronze Age Settlement in Maghreb, Dating to 2,000 BC

15 March 2025

15 March 2025

Researchers at the University of Barcelona have made a remarkable discovery: the first Bronze Age settlement in the Maghreb region...

A mysterious lead tablet with an unknown 13th-14th-century script: Might be an old Lithuanian script?

26 February 2024

26 February 2024

In the Museum of the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius, Lithuania, a mysterious lead tablet dating back to...

In Pontefract, archaeologists have discovered Neolithic remains

18 June 2021

18 June 2021

Archaeologists working on the site of the former Carleton Furniture factory at Mill Dam Lane in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England,...

Marble inlay floors found in a Sunken Roman villa in Baia, the Las Vegas of the ancient world

9 April 2023

9 April 2023

Expansion of research activities in the Terme del Lacus area in the sunken Baia park, known as the ‘Las Vegas’...