Turtleback tomb

Turtleback or Turtle-back tombs or turtle shell tombs (simplified Chinese: 龟壳墓; traditional Chinese: 龜殼墓; pinyin: guī ké mù; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ku-khak-bōng; Okinawan: カーミナクーバカ, kaaminakuubaka) are a particular type of tombs originating from the Song Dynasty. They are commonly found in some coastal provinces of southern China (Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong), the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and in Vietnam. They can also be found in countries with overseas Chinese populations like Malaysia.

In the Chinese version, the tomb itself is made to look like the carapace of a tortoise; the vertical tombstone with the name of the deceased is put where the tortoise would have had its head, at the end of the grave where the feet of the buried body are.^[1] The tomb is surrounded by an Ω-shaped ridge, with its opening on the side where the tortoise's head would have been and where the tombstone is.^[1]

The Ryukyuan version has the same overall shape and layout, but on a much greater scale. The body of the "tortoise" serves as a family burial vault.^[2]