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 recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

with the traces of a late Jōmon to

Yayoi period The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

settlement located in the Shingū neighborhood of the city of Tatsuno,

Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...

, in the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1982.

Overview

The Shingū Miyauchi Site is located behind

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, ...

Harima-Shingū Station 260px, is a passenger railway station located in the city of Tatsuno, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Harima-Shingū Station is served by the Kishin Line, and is located 22.1 kilometers from t ...

, in an area which was subject to rapid urban development from around 1965. As a result of preliminary surveys made by

rescue archaeology Rescue archaeology, sometimes called commercial archaeology, preventive archaeology, salvage archaeology, contract archaeology, developer-funded archaeology, or compliance archaeology, is state-sanctioned, archaeological survey and excavation ca ...

, it was found to be the first lowland Yayoi period archaeological site in the Harima region. Subsequent investigations revealed that the area of the settlement was approximately 400 meters east-to-west by 230 meters north-to-south. The foundations of several

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, this type of earth shelter may also be used to store food (just like a pantry, a lar ...

s were found, which were also a first for the middle basin of the

Ibo River The Ibo River (揖保川) is a river in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The Ibo, Kako, Ichi River, Ichi, Yumesaki, and Chikusa rivers are collectively referred to as the Harima Gokawa, the five major rivers that flow into the Harima Sea. The basin area ...

. The settlement existed until the mid-Yayoi period, as evidenced by a large amount of

Yayoi pottery Yayoi pottery (弥生土器 Yayoi doki) is earthenware pottery produced during the Yayoi period, an Iron Age era in the history of Japan traditionally dated 300 BC to AD 300. The pottery allowed for the identification of the Yayoi period and ...

and a circular

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

also found at the site. The site has been preserved as an

archaeological park 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 and ...

with a number of reconstructed pit dwellings. It is located a four-minute walk from Harima-Shingū Station.

References

External links

Tatsuno city home page

Tatsuno Tourist Association home page
{{in lang, ja Yayoi period Archaeological sites in Japan History of Hyōgo Prefecture Tatsuno, Hyōgo Historic Sites of Japan

Overview

See also

References

External links