In addition, the unearthed roof tiles called 'Yamada-dera shiki' (Yamada-dera Temple Style) consist of a combination of Tanben hachiyo rengemon no kimarugawara (roof tiles with a design of lotus flowers with eight leaves around a petal) and Jukomon no nokihiragawara (broad eaves-end tiles with linear patterns), and tiles of the same type have been unearthed at ancient temples around the country, providing guidelines for estimating when each of the temples was built.
また、出土する瓦は単弁八葉蓮華文の軒丸瓦と重弧文の軒平瓦の組み合わせからなる「山田寺式」と呼ばれるもので、各地の古代寺院から同種の瓦が出土し、建築年代を推定する指標となっている。