is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

consisting of a

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

shell midden and the remains of an adjacent settlement located in what is now the city of

Ōfunato is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 35,452, and a population density of 110 persons per km2 in 14,895 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ōfunato is located in southeastern ...

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectur ...

in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

of northern

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is protected by the central government as a National Historic Site in 2001.

Overview

During the early to middle Jōmon period (approximately 4000 to 2500 BC), sea levels were five to six meters higher than at present, and the ambient temperature was also 2 deg C higher. During this period, the Tōhoku region was inhabited by the

Jōmon people is the generic name of several peoples who lived in the Japanese archipelago during the Jōmon period (). The Jōmon people may have consisted of multiple groups, which arrived and merged at different times in the Japanese archipelago, using multi ...

, many of whom lived in coastal settlements. The

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s associated with such settlements contain

bone A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...

botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

material, mollusc shells,

sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...

s, lithics, and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with the now-vanished inhabitants, and these

features Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing characteristic of a software item ...

, provide a useful source into the diets and habits of Jōmon society. Most of these middens are found along the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

of Japan. The rocky

ria coast A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

was densely settled from the early through late Jōmon period, and the locations of such coastal settlements are often marked by shell middens containing the remains of shellfish, fish, animal and whale bones and human-produced artifacts, including earthenware shards, fishing hooks, etc. The rocky rias coast of

was densely settled from the early through late Jōmon period. In particular, the deeply indented Ōfunato Bay area was a rich fishing ground and is the location of 16 known Jōmon-period shell middens, a number of which have been designated National Historic Sites. The Ōhora Shell Midden dates from the late Jōmon period, and is located at an elevation of 31 meters above the present sea level, on a small peninsula on the east side of the bay. The midden consists of two separate groups of mounds, which were first excavated in 1925 by the

Tohoku Imperial University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

and again in 2002. The type of pottery found at this site was of a type widely distributed throughout the Tōhoku region and into southern

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. The shell middens are between a grouping of ''

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

'' to the east and the remains of a residential area to the west, which is in turn surrounded by more shell middens on its far side, indicating a very long period of residency. In some cases, the middens were over one meter thick. The contents was overwhelmingly shellfish; however, bones from

Sitka deer The Sitka deer or Sitka black-tailed deer (''Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis'') is a subspecies of mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''), similar to the Columbian black-tailed subspecies (''O. h. colombianus''). Their name originates from Sitka, A ...

, wild boar, and numerous species of fish and birds were also discovered. Carved bone implements, such as fishhooks and harpoons, spoons and other artifacts were also discovered. In 1925, archaeologist Kiyo Yamauchi published a dissertation outlining the chronological order of the Jōmon earthenware, based on the difference in design of earthenware recovered from these middens. The site was backfilled after excavation, and nothing remains above ground but an explanatory plaque. The site is located approximately five minutes on foot from

Rikuzen-Akasaki Station was a railway station on the Sanriku Railway Company’s Rias Line located in the city of Ōfunato, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. It is 3.7 rail kilometers from the terminus of the line at Sakari Station. Station layout Rikuzen-Akasaki Station has ...

on the Sanriku Railway

Rias Line The is a railway company in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. The company and its lines are also known as . The company was founded in 1981, as the first "Public-Private Partnerships In Japan, third sector" (half State ownership, public, half ...

References

External links

Iwate Prefecture site

Ofunato city home page
{{in lang, ja Ōfunato, Iwate Jōmon-period shell middens History of Iwate Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan

Overview

See also

References

External links