Encyclopedia-style definition sentence. 古墳 ('ancient tumulus, burial mound') is the general term for the large earth mounds built as tombs for elite figures in the Kofun period (ca. 250-538 CE). 高松塚古墳 is famous for its painted interior walls discovered in 1972 — one of only two kofun known to contain murals. 体言止め ending on 古墳.