The is an
archaeological site in the city of
Nishitōkyō
() is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 206,047, and a population density of 13,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Nishitokyo is located at ...
,
Tokyo Metropolis, in the
Kantō region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...
of
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 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 ...
settlement ruin. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 2015.
Overview
The Shitanoya site is located in the lowlands on the south bank of the Shakujii River, and consists of a pair of ring-shaped settlements from the middle of the Jōmon period. These settlements are divided by a small creek, and it is uncertain if they existed simultaneously. The larger is on the west side, and has a diameter of about 150 meters. The site contains the foundations of a number of
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, a cemetery, and a group of raised-floor buildings, presumed to be granaries, arranged around a central plaza. It was inhabited for approximately a thousand years. Such circular settlements from the middle Jōmon period (about 5,000 to 4,000 years ago) are widely distributed in Kantō and
Kōshin'etsu region
is a subregion of the Chūbu region in Japan consisting of Yamanashi, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures.
The name Kōshin'etsu is a composite formed from the names of old provinces which are adjacent to each other — Kai (now Yamanashi), ...
s, and the
Musashino Terrace and
Tama Hills
is an area of hills stretching across southwest Tokyo and northeast Kanagawa Prefecture in the Kantō Plain on Honshū, Japan. Its total area is approximately 300 km2. The Tama River marks its northeastern boundary. The Tama Hills border the ...
have the second highest density of such settlements next to the cluster at the southern foot of
Mount Yatsugatake in
Nagano Prefecture
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...
.
Many pieces of
Jōmon pottery have been found at the site before World War II, including many which originated in the southern
Tōhoku region. The site was first excavated in 1950 by archaeologist Tadashi Yoshida. At the time it was called the "Sakagami Ruins". Large scale excavations were conducted in 1973 and 1975 and the site was renamed to its present name. This is one of the largest known middle Jōmon period settlements in the southern Kantō region.
The site was backfilled after excavation, but is preserved as . The site is a seven minute walk from
Higashi-Fushimi Station
is a passenger railway station located in then city of Nishitōkyō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway.
Lines
Higashi-Fushimi Station is served by the 47.5 km Seibu Shinjuku Line from in Tokyo to in Sait ...
on the
Seibu Shinjuku Line.
See also
*
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Tōkyō)
References
External links
Nishitōkyō City home page
{{in lang, ja
Archaeological sites in Japan
Jōmon period
Nishitōkyō, Tokyo
History of Tokyo
Historic Sites of Japan