 Natural Monument
 Before the Old Stone Age
Kofun Period
Asuka Period
| Located northwest of Mt. Nijo, 150 m above sea level, the Donzuru-bo hill is an unusual scenic spot featuring an interesting stratum.
Access to the hill is through a stairway on the north side of Prefectural Road Kashiba-Taishi Route, parallel to the Kinki Nippon Railway Minami-Osaka Line, at a point 800 m from National Road Route 165. This access point is also the starting point of the trail to Mt. Katsuragi and Mt. Kongo.
The present geographical features are a result of Mt. Nijo's volcanic activities 15 to 20 million years ago, or in the late Miocene of the Cenozoic era's tertiary period. Due to the magmatic activities, volcanic ash and bombs accumulated on the bottom of the lake at the mountain foot; subsequent crustal movements caused this accumulation to rise up, whereupon it was eroded by wind and rain.
This stratum consists of white tuff called "Donzuru-bo formation of the Nijo stratum." In 1951, it was designated as a natural monument by the Nara prefectural government because of its geological meaning. In old times, the tuff was used as a material for mound stone coffins (Hiranotsuka Anayama Mound and so on), temple stylobates (Horyu-ji Temple, Heijo-kyo) and stone Buddhist images. There are several ruins of quarries in the vicinity. The hill is so named because, when viewed from a distant place, the hill looks like a pine grave with many cranes gathering (don means gathering, zuru cranes and bo hill).
Source: The Kashiba municipal government
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Historic Cultural Resources Map
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