Most of the attempts to search for and identify imperial mausoleums that are recognized as such today were made during the Edo period and some of these attempts continued into the Meiji period and even later.
現在につながる天皇陵の探索および治定は、そのほとんどが江戸時代に行われており、一部のものについては明治時代以降にまでずれこんだ。