The is a complex

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 ...

located in the Kumihama neighborhood of the city of Kyōtango, Kyoto in the

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...

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 contains artifacts ranging from the Jōmon through

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

, with the bulk of artifacts coming from the

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 ...

. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1921.

Overview

The Hakoishihama site is located on a coastal sand terrance overlooking 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. It covers an area of approximately 25 hectares, or one kilometer from east-to-west by up to 600 meters north-to-south, and is within the

Sanin Kaigan National Park is a National Park in the Tottori, Hyōgo, and Kyōto Prefectures, Japan. Established in 1963, the park runs continuously along the Sea of Japan coast from Tottori to Kyōtango. The park covers 87.83 km². Sanin Kaigan National Park ...

. The sea was previously covered by dense

Japanese black pine ''Pinus thunbergii'' (syn: ''Pinus thunbergiana''), also called black pine, Japanese black pine, and Japanese pine, is a pine tree native to coastal areas of Japan (Kyūshū, Shikoku and Honshū) and South Korea. It is called () in Korean, () ...

forests, which were largely destroyed by collection of pine sap during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, although reforestation attempts have been progressing into the 1970s. The bed of the Sakotani River, which at present turns at a right angle into Kumihama Town and flows into Kumihama Bay in the southwest, previously flowed directly into the Sea of Japan at this point, and it is believed that an ancient settlement existed at the river mouth. The site was known to local

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

s from the late 19th century, who collected surface artifacts which had been exposed by wind and the shifting sands. It was first introduced to academia in the miscellaneous notes of "Tokyo Anthropology Magazine" No. 147 published on June 28, 1898. It drew attention primarily from its large quantities of Yayoi period artifacts, including stone spearheads, grinding balls, iron slag, and both finished and unfinished beads, as well as fragments of Chinese ceramics and coins, including that this was both an industrial site and also a site of trade with the Asian mainland. One of the most notable discoveries occurred in 1903, when two coins of the short-lived Chinese

Xin dynasty The Xin dynasty (; ), also known as Xin Mang () in Chinese historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty which lasted from 9 to 23 AD, established by the Han dynasty consort kin Wang Mang, who usurped the throne of the Emperor Ping o ...

(9 to 23 AD) were discovered with

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 ...

, confirming trade with China during this period. Although the site is preserved, no actual

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s have hardly been conducted and what is known about the ruins is limited to surface materials. Cylindrical and figurative ''

haniwa The are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. ''Haniwa'' were created according to the ''wazumi'' technique, ...

'' were also excavated. The site is about a ten-minute drive from Shōtenkyō Station on the

Kyoto Tango Railway The , or , is a railway system in Kyoto Prefecture and Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan operated by Willer Trains Inc. headquartered in Miyazu, Kyoto. Company The operating company Willer Trains Inc. is a subsidiary of Willer Alliance Inc. Willer Train ...

Miyazu Line The is a railway line of the Kyoto Tango Railway in Kyoto Prefecture and Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Trains on the line are operated by Willer Trains Inc. as part of its Kyoto Tango Railway system. The and the are the aliases assigned by Wille ...

Gallery

函石浜遺跡包含地発見当時 Hakoishikama Ruins.jpg, Hakoishikama in 1922 Hakoishihama iseki (2).jpg, Entry to the site 函石浜遺物包含地 - panoramio.jpg, Panorama

References

External links

Kyōtango City home page

San'inKaigan UNESCO GeoPark
{{in lang, ja History of Kyoto Prefecture Kyōtango Historic Sites of Japan Archaeological sites in Japan

Overview

Gallery

See also

References

External links