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 Sugusaka neighborhood of the city of
Toyama
Toyama may refer to:
Places and organizations
* Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island
* Toyama, Toyama, the capital city of Toyama Prefecture
* Toyama Station, the main station of Toyama, ...
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 ...
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 the ruins of a settlement from 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 to the
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 ...
. It has been protected as a
National Historic Site since 1981.
Outline
The Sugusaka site is located on a
fluvial 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 right bank of the
Jinzū River in what is now part of the Sarukurayama ski resort on the outskirts of the city of Toyama. This is the border between the mountainous interior of Toyama and the coastal plains. In this vicinity there are a number of archaeological sites from the Japanese Palaeolithic to the Jōmon era, including the Nozawa site, Yagiyama Ono site, Naosaka II site, Naosaka III site, Naosaka IV site, indicating that this area has been densely populated since the earliest times. The Sugusaka site was discovered in 1971 during construction work for the establishment of a ranch, when a stone hearth dating from the middle of the Jōmon period was discovered. In response, in 1972 the Toyama Board of Education conducted
excavation surveys of the area.
From the Japanese Paleolithic period, some 1200 stone blades were found. These blades were dated to about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago, and are thus the oldest thus found in the Hokuriku region. Apart from this, local polished
stone axe
A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history, yet there is no academic consensus on what they were used for. It is made from stone, usually flint or che ...
s, projectile points, and carving tools have been excavated. The site also contained thousands of fist-sized stones which had burn marks. These stones appear to have used for cooking purposes by heating in a fire and dropping into a container.
Early examples of embossed
Jōmon pottery mainly composed of elliptical patterns were also found, including pottery with patterns created by a rolling die, and embossed pottery. These pottery shards were from the
Hida,
Shinano,
Kinki and
Tōkai region
The is a subregion of the Chūbu region and Kansai region in Japan that runs along the Pacific Ocean. The name comes from the Tōkaidō, one of the Edo Five Routes. Because Tōkai is a sub-region and is not officially classified, there is s ...
s indicating long range trade routes from a very early period in Japanese history. By the middle Jōmon period, the settlement had extended along the valley extending to the north and south, with numerous
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 surrounding a central plaza.
The site, which was backfilled after excavation and is now an empty lot, is about a ten-minute walk from
Sasazu Station on the
JR West
, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...
Takayama Main Line
The is a Japanese railway line between Gifu Station in Gifu and Toyama Station in Toyama, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line directly links the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area (m ...
.
See also
*
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Toyama)
This list is of the Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefecture of Toyama.
National Historic Sites
As of 1 August 2019, twenty-one Sites have been designated as being of national significance, including the Kaga Domain Maeda Clan Gra ...
References
External links
Toyama City official siteToyama Prefecture official site
History of Toyama Prefecture
Toyama (city)
Historic Sites of Japan
Paleolithic sites in Japan
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