The 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 ...

containing the remnants of a late

Yayoi period The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...

moated settlement with three ''

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』� ...

'' tumuli located in the Furutsu neighborhood of Akiha-ku, Niigata in the

Hokuriku region The was located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lay along the Sea of Japan within the Chūbu region, which it is currently a part of. It is almost equivalent to Koshi Province and Hokurikudō area in pre-modern ...

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 ...

. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 2005, with the area under preservation extended in 2011 It is the northernmost moated Yayoi settlement site thus far discovered on the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

coast.

Overview

During the late Yayoi period, settlements began appearing on hilltop locations with defensive fortifications. The Furutsu Hachimanyama Site was discovered in 1987 during construction of the

Ban-etsu Expressway The is a national expressway in the Tōhoku region of Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming The name is a kanji acronym consisting of characters found in the former names of the provinces linked by the expre ...

. It consists of a late Yayoi period moated settlement on a slight elevation (15 to 55 meters) above the Niigata Plain in between the Shinano and

Agano River The is a river in the Hokuriku region of Honshu, Japan. It is also called the Aga River or the Ōkawa River in Fukushima. The source of the river is Mount Arakai on the border of Fukushima and Tochigi. It flows to the north and meets the Nip ...

s, extending for 400 meters from north-to-south and 150 meters from east-to-west. The settlement was surrounded by a V-shaped moat, intermittent in places, double in others, with a depth three meters and width of two meters. The soil excavated from the moats were used to form a rudimentary earthen

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

. Within the moat were the foundation pillar holes for 45 rectangular raised-floor dwellings, measuring four to five meters on each side, with a hearth in the center and a drainage groove. The foundations of 32

pit dwelling A pit-house (or ''pit house'', ''pithouse'') is a house built in the ground and used for shelter. Besides providing shelter from the most extreme of weather conditions, these structures may also be used to store food (just like a pantry, a larder ...

s have also been identified.

Yayoi pottery Yayoi pottery (弥生土器 Yayoi doki) is earthenware pottery produced during the Yayoi period, an Iron Age era in the history of Japan, by an Island which was formerly native to Japan traditionally dated 300 BC to AD 300. The pottery allow ...

from 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 ...

, notably from what is now

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princip ...

and other parts of the Hokuriku region have been found, together with locally-made pottery. This indicates some form of long distance trade and a connection between this site and the inland region of Aizu. Two square tumuli are located a short distance outside the moat, and an iron sword with a deer horn handle and a stone spearpoint were excavated from the traces of the

burial chamber A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could a ...

s. A little further away, on a small rise overlooking the settlement is a "two conjoined rectangles" type tumuli (''zenpō-kōhō-fun'' (前方後方墳)), orientated to the north, which was found to have no

grave good Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

s. It is estimated to date from the end of the Yayoi period. Some artifacts uncovered at the site are on display at the at site, and some representations of pit houses have been rebuilt. The site is about a 10-minute walk from Furutsu Station on the

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

Shin'etsu Main Line The Shinetsu Main Line ( ja, 信越本線, ) is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . S ...

Furutsu Hachimanyama Kofun

The within the National Historic Site is a two-tier domed tumuli, with the domed portion on top of a circular base, partially surrounded by a moat. With a diameter of 60 meters, it is one of the largest in Niigata Prefecture. It is believed to have been constructed in the early

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

, but has not been excavated. It is located to the northwest of the settlement at the Furutsu Hachimanyama Site.

Gallery

File:古津八幡山遺跡条溝と土塁.JPG, portion of moat and rampart File:古津八幡山遺跡環濠.JPG, Tumuli File:NiigataCityOpenData rekishinohiroba04.jpg, Reconstructed pit houses File:Furutsu Hachiman Museum 201905.jpg, Furutsu Hachiman Museum

References

External links

Niigata city home page

{in lang, ja Yayoi period History of Niigata Prefecture Niigata (city) Historic Sites of Japan Archaeological sites in Japan

Overview

Furutsu Hachimanyama Kofun

Gallery

See also

References

External links