potentates

奈良県明日香村の都塚古墳がピラミッド形の大型方墳であったことが村教委と関西大考古学研究室が発表しました。potentates（有力者、権力者）は高校時代に考古学を趣味（？）にされていた英語の先生から教わりました。

"poten"にはpowerが宿っているともおっしゃっていました。懐かしい単語です。（UG）

6th-century pyramid-shaped giant tomb found in Nara Prefecture village

Archaeologists have confirmed that an ancient tomb believed to have been built in a Nara Prefecture village in the latter half of the 6th century is a huge pyramid-shaped ancient tomb.　The Asuka Municipal Board of Education and the Kansai University Archaeological Research Institute made the announcement on Aug. 13.

Top-class potentates are believed to have introduced the structure in place of large keyhole-shaped tomb mounds. Experts suspect that the tomb had been built for Soga no Iname (? to 570), who had laid a foundation for the Soga clan to exercise great political power. The discovery of the tomb is likely to shed light on the power structure in the transition period from the Tumulus period to the Asuka Period.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140814p2a00m0na010000c.html