Keyhole-shaped tumuli consist of various elements including a burial mound (the front square, the rounded rear, and tsukuridashi, or a space for religious ceremonies), burial facilities (a coffin room, a compartment protecting coffin room, and a stone chamber), gravel goods, and external facilities (fuki-ishi for hardening the mound covering a tomb and the earthenware, haniwa, and the other related items used in rituals).
前方後円墳は、憤丘（前方部・後方部・造出）、埋葬施設（棺室・槨室・石室）、副葬品、外表施設（封土固めの葺石、祭祀用の土器・埴輪など）などの諸要素から成っている。