Kitakogane Shell Mound, Date, Japan

Kitakogane Shell Mound comprises the Jomon Archaeological Sites in Hokkaido and Northern Tohoku, listed on the candidate for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. Visit the Kitakogane Shell Mound Information Center to see real excavates, and then go outside to find reproduced shell mounds and remains of a water place.

The settlement comprises myriad features, including pit dwellings, graves, shell mounds, and a watering place. Countless sea shells (from common Orient clams, oysters, scallops, etc.), fish bones (from tuna, flounder, etc.) and marine mammal bones (from fur seals, whales, etc.) have been excavated from the shell mounds. These indicate the fishing-oriented livelihood that was pursued in the region.

The shell mounds and pit dwellings date from a time when the shoreline was changing due to marine transgressions and regressions, presenting a good example of the relationship between changes in the natural environment and people’s residential areas. A ritual place integrates a shell mound and a burial area where graves with human bones and the remains of rituals involving animals, such as the arranged cranial bones of deer, have been discovered.

Large numbers of pebble tools (grinding stones and milling basins) that are considered to have been used to crush nuts have been excavated from the remains of a watering place near a spring. Most of these were broken when found, indicating that the place was used as a ritual ground for the disposal of stone tools.

This component part is an archaeological site of a settlement accompanied by shell mounds dating from the first half of the development stage of sedentism. It is an important archaeological site that attests to a coastal livelihood, people’s adaptation to environmental changes such as marine transgressions and regressions, and a high degree of spirituality such as seen in rituals and ceremonies at the watering place and shell mounds.

References:

jomon-japan.jp

Cemeteries, mausoleums and burial places in Japan

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Date, Japan

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Founded: 5000-3500 BCE
Category: Cemeteries, mausoleums and burial places in Japan

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jomon-japan.jp

Rating

3.9/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

尤曉莉 (8 months ago)
Experience firsthand the climate and scenery where the Jomon people live, and the remains of huge shell mounds. There are also friendly little clay dolls.

hiroaki maejima (8 months ago)
The Jomon ruins in Hokkaido and northern Tohoku are a group of Jomon ruins located in northern Tohoku, Hokkaido (southern Hokkaido), which has been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (cultural heritage). generic name for the ruins of …Early period, open sea coast hills It seems that it is. The places where people feel comfortable are the same as they were in the past. This is difficult to achieve in today's housing situation.

exotic asia (10 months ago)
Jomon ruins from 6000 years ago Residence and location where it was discovered Seeing restored pottery etc. You can. Admission is free...200 yen per person It is better to collect before and after Isn't it? That's what I thought.

森下敦 (12 months ago)
This is also a shell midden, the remains of a Jomon village with houses and graves close together. Since the ruins are still old, dating back 6,000 years, it may be from a time when they were not separated. However, in addition to the bones of dolphins, sea lions, fish, and deer, human bones (14 bodies) were also excavated in the shell mound, suggesting that it was not just a dumping ground for garbage, but rather a sending place for living creatures. . What is interesting is that water is still flowing from the water hole under the platform, and a large amount of ground stone has been found there. It is a stone that serves as a pedestal for grinding nuts, etc. Was the stone enshrined here after it had completed its role, or was a ritual performed here? Furthermore, an analysis of human bones found here and in Hokkaido shows that compared to the Jomon people of Honshu, there were far fewer cavities in the teeth. This can be seen from the analysis of human bones, but the Jomon people of Hokkaido ate a lot of sea mammals (steller sea lions, seals, dolphins), etc. (although they also ate land animals, of course), and they ate nuts to a lesser extent than the Jomon people of Honshu. It is said that this is due to the fact that it has not been done yet. This is because they mainly ate protein and the amount of starch they ate was small. The Jomon people of Honshu ate a lot of nuts such as walnuts, which are starchy, and it seems that they had more cavities due to glucose. The human bones here are based on Jomon DNA and genome analysis. It's important data. The Jomon period is still interesting.

Stoic Nomad (12 months ago)
Visited Hokkaido on a bicycle trip. Free. There were three Jomon period residences and two shell mounds on a very large site. It was refreshing to actually be able to go inside and walk around. There were also deer bones. There is also a walking path. The parking lot is large. There is no bicycle parking lot, but I parked it near the toilet. There are restrooms in the parking lot and inside. There are no food shops or cafes inside.

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Kitakogane Shell Mound