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

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 ...

shell midden and the remains of an adjacent settlement located in what is now the city of Ōfunato,

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectur ...

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 since 1934.Iwate Prefectural home page
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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 Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

material, mollusc shells,

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 ...

s, lithics, and other artifacts and ecofacts 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 diets 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. The rocky

ria coast A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

was densely settled from the early through late Jōmon period, and the locations of such coastal settlements are often marked by shell middens containing the remains of shellfish, fish, animal and whale bones and human-produced artifacts, including earthenware shards, fishing hooks, etc. The rocky rias coast of

was densely settled from the early through late Jōmon period. In particular, the deeply indented Ōfunato Bay area was a rich fishing ground and is the location of 16 known Jōmon -period shell middens, a number of which have been designated National Historic Sites. The Takonoura shell midden dates from the early to middle Jōmon period, and is located on a hill on the east side of the Ōfunato Bay in the Ashinozaki, Anozaki-cho neighborhood. It was partially excavated in 1957 by Waseda University. The midden is annular, forming a shell ring, but truncated to the east and southwest, and has a thickness of over two meters, indicating that it had been used for many centuries. An unusual feature of the midden is that some layers consist almost exclusively of a certain type of artifact (for example, only oyster shells, or only fish bones, etc). However, in general, the midden has a typically mixed composition including many varieties of shellfish, fish bones, and the bones of mammals such as dogs,

Sitka deer The Sitka deer or Sitka black-tailed deer (''Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis'') is a subspecies of mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''), similar to the Columbian black-tailed subspecies (''O. h. colombianus''). Their name originates from Sitka, A ...

, whales, wolves and dolphins. In addition,

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, weights, and carved bone objects, such as fishhooks, and bone jewelry have been found. The site also contains traces of dwelling foundations and eight sets of human remains. The site was backfilled after excavation, and there is now little above ground except for an explanatory plaque. The site is located approximately fifteen minutes by car from Rikuzen-Akasaki Station on the Sanriku Railway

Rias Line The is a railway company in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. The company and its lines are also known as . The company was founded in 1981, as the first "Public-Private Partnerships In Japan, third sector" (half State ownership, public, half ...

References

External links

Iwate Prefecture site

Ofunato city home page
{{in lang, ja Ōfunato, Iwate History of Iwate Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan Jōmon-period shell middens Jōmon-period ruins

Overview

See also

References

External links