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 ...

containing the ruins of an early

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 ...

to early

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

settlement located in the Soga neighborhood of the city of

Shiojiri, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 67,240 in 27,602 households, and a population density of 230 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Shiojiri is located in central Na ...

in the

Chūbu region The , Central region, or is a region in the middle of Honshu, Honshū, Japan, Japan's main island. In a wide, classical definition, it encompasses nine prefectures (''ken''): Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Fukui Prefecture, Fukui, Gifu Prefecture ...

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 1952.

Overview

The Hiraide site is located in a rural area in the southernmost point of the Matsumoto Plain of central Nagano Prefecture. The ruins are widely spread in strips along the Shibukawa River ranging approximately one kilometer east-west by 300 meters north-to-south, and also encompass 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』� ...

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s. The site appears to have been continuously occupied by a large settlement from the early Jōmon period extending well into the Heian period. It was once considered one of the three major archaeological sites in Japan, along with the Toro Site in Shizuoka, and the Togariishi Site in

Chino, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 55,673 in 23,236 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Chino is located in a mountainous ...

. It was excavated beginning in 1952 and over 20,000 artifacts have been found. The Jōmon period remains include 116

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 dating to about 4,500 to 5,500 years ago, with

Jōmon pottery The is a type of ancient earthenware pottery which was made during the Jōmon period in Japan. The term "Jōmon" () means "rope-patterned" in Japanese, describing the patterns that are pressed into the clay. Outline Oldest pottery in Jap ...

decorated with luxurious patterns and

stone tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

s. Also found were many relics and artifacts related to faith such as clay figurines and standing stones. No residence sites 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 ...

(300 BC–300 AD) have been found, but there was an abundance of

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 ...

artifacts, indicating that the settlement still existed during that time. In the

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 ...

(300 to 538 AD), the foundations for over 128 houses have been found, many of large size, and with one or more hearths. Artifacts included many iron implements,

Haji ware is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been found ...

and

Sue ware was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and origin ...

pottery, carbonized cultivated cereals such as rice and millet, as well as the bones of cattle and horses. An unusual two-meter tall tower of

roof tile A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...

s from the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

was also found. Another 50 house sites from the

have been identified, together with glazed pottery fragments. These artifacts indicate that this settlement existed for thousands of years in this same location. The site is now an

archaeological park 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 and ...

covering 56,450 square meters, with numerous reconstructed buildings, a museum (the , and public activities. It is located approximately 2 kilometers southwest of

Shiojiri Station is a train station in the city of Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, operated jointly by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), with a freight terminal operated by the Japan Freight Railway Company. It is the operational border between JR East a ...

on the

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...

References

External links

Shiojiri city official site

Shiojiri City Hiraide Museum official site
{{in lang, ja Jōmon-period ruins History of Nagano Prefecture Shiojiri, Nagano Historic Sites of Japan

Overview

See also

References

External links