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 ...

in the city of

Hachinohe is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city h ...

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, ...

, 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 ...

containing the ruins of a middle to late

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 ...

(3000-1000 BC) settlement. The remains were designated a National Historic Site in 1957 by the Japanese government. It is also referred to as the "Korekawa Stone Age site", although the remains discovered are from the Jōmon period, rather than the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC; although any date of human presence before 35,000 BC ...

period.

Overview

The site consists of three locations: the (Middle Jōmon period), (Early to Middle Jōmon period) and (Final Jōmon period), collectively called the Korekawa Site. The location is on a

river terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial te ...

on the left bank of the Niida River, at an altitude of approximately 10 to 30 meters. The area was first excavated in the 1920s, and then much more extensively in 1962 and again from 1999 to 2004. The size of the settlement during the middle to late Jōmon period (3000-1000 BC) was relatively small, but the site included the residential area, graveyard, work area, garbage

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 ...

and ritual place. The garbage midden contained the remnants of various shellfish, bones of animals and fish and an extremely large number of Japanese horse chestnuts and

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

s, indicating the importance of these nuts in the Jōmon period diet. Of especial note were

lacquerware Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Befor ...

items, both of decoration and for strengthening and preserving tools, which suggest systematic lacquer tool production activities. The Nakai Site is also one of the

type site In archaeology, a type site is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hallstatt led scholars to divide the European Iron Age ...

s representing the Kamegaoka culture of the final phase of the Jōmon period (1000-300 BC). Many of the artifacts recovered from the site are on display at the , a museum built at the site, which has been preserved as an archaeological park with several reconstructed pit dwellings. In 2011, 330 items recovered from the site were designated as Important Cultural Properties by the Japanese government. One of the objects, a clay figurine depicting a seated man in a pose of prayer, has been designated a

National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...

of Japan. The site has been submitted for inscription on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

as one of the Jōmon Archaeological Sites in Hokkaidō, Northern Tōhoku, and other regions

References

{{reflist

External links

Korekawa Jomon-kan
Archaeological sites in Japan Tourist attractions in Aomori Prefecture Jōmon period Hachinohe History of Aomori Prefecture Museums in Aomori Prefecture

Overview

See also

References

External links