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 ...

consisting of a

shell 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 the remains of an adjacent

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 located in what is now the city of

Higashimatsushima is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 39,580 in 16102 households, and a population density of 390 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Higashi-Matsushima (lit. "East Mats ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

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 ...

. It has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site in 1995.

Overview

During the early to middle Jōmon period (approximately 4000 to 2500 BC), sea levels were five to six meters higher than at present, and the ambient temperature was also 2 deg C higher. During this period, the Tōhoku region was inhabited by the

Jōmon people is the generic name of several peoples who lived in the Japanese archipelago during the Jōmon period (). The Jōmon people may have consisted of multiple groups, which arrived and merged at different times in the Japanese archipelago, using multi ...

, many of whom lived in coastal settlements. The

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 ...

s associated with such settlements contain

bone A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...

, botanical material,

mollusc shell The mollusc (or molluskOften spelled mollusk shell in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" are preferred by ) shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which ...

sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...

lithics Lithic may refer to: *Relating to stone tools **Lithic analysis, the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts **Lithic core, the part of a stone which has had flakes removed from it **Lithic flake, the portion of a rock removed to ...

, and other artifacts and

ecofact In archaeology, a biofact (more commonly known as an ecofact) is any organic material including flora or fauna material found at an archaeological site that has not been technologically altered by humans yet still has cultural relevance. Biofact ...

s associated with the now-vanished inhabitants, and these

features Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing characteristic of a software item ...

, provide a useful source into the

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

s and habits of Jōmon society. Most of these middens are found along the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

of Japan, and the rocky ria coast of

was densely settled from the early through late Jōmon period. Some 59 shell middens have been found around Matsushima Bay alone, of which the Satohama site is one of the largest. Located on Miyatojima, the largest island in Matsushima Bay, the midden is on a hill extending from east to west, extending 200 meters north-south and 800 meters east-west. It was first excavated by

Tohoku Imperial University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

from 1918-1919. It is especially famous as the first case of stratigraphic excavation in Japan, with clear indication of small settlements in the early Jōmon period, larger settlements and shell mounds were left in each intermediate portion of the Jōmon period until the beginning of 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 ...

, and small settlements continuing until at least the

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. ...

. The midden was more than six meters thick in places, and a wide variety of relics have been excavated. The many thousands of years of continuous occupation and clear stratification of the midden enabled researchers to develop a pottery chronology which had a great influence on the later Jōmon research. In addition to vast numbers of shells, the mound included chestnuts, acorns, the bones of large oceanic fish, and the bones of deer, wild boar and numerous species of birds. More than sixty examples of human remains were also found. In addition, there are many examples of fishing gear and ornaments, some made from conch and other materials not native to the area, presuming some form of long distance trade, as well as polished stone axes. In total were 293 manufactured items of bone, 91 of shell, 168 of stone, and 38 of earthenware found during excavations which were designated an Important Cultural Property in 2000. Finds from the site are exhibited at the Historical Museum of Jomon Village OkuMatsushima. Adjacent to the archeological site is the Okumatsushima Jōmon Village, where most of the excavated items can be seen in the historical museum located inside. It is located about 15 minutes by car from

Nobiru Station is a railway station on the Senseki Line in the city of Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Nobiru Station is served by the Senseki Line, and is located 33.4 kilometers from t ...

on the

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

Senseki Line The is a railway line in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Aoba-dōri Station in Sendai to Ishinomaki Station in Ishinomaki, and provides access to the central coast areas of M ...

References

External links

Agency for Cultural Affairs site

Historical Museum of Jomon Village OkuMatsushima homepage
{{in lang, ja
Satohama shell mound booklet
Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Jōmon period Shell middens in Japan Archaeological sites in Japan History of Miyagi Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan Archaeological museums in Japan Museums in Miyagi Prefecture

Overview

See also

References

External links