HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Ōmori Shell Mounds () are the
middens 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 e ...
, located in Ōmori, on the border of
Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total ar ...
and Ōta, Tokyo,
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 ...
.


Overview

The shell mounds had been known to the local people for a long time. In 1877, the American
zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...
Edward S. Morse Edward Sylvester Morse (June 18, 1838 – December 20, 1925) was an American zoologist, archaeologist, and orientalist. He is considered the "Father of Japanese archaeology." Early life Morse was born in Portland, Maine to Jonathan Kimba ...
(who would later teach zoology at the
University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
) came to Japan, and, on the second day of his arrival while riding Japan's first railway from
Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...
to Tokyo (founded in 1872), "found" these mounds and instantly felt their importance. Dr. Morse with his assistants later excavated these mounds from 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 ...
and published his paper in 1879, which launched Japan's modern
archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...
. These shell mounds are now part of Ōmori Shell Mounds Garden, open to the public. In 1955, the sites were registered as Japan's Historic Sites. The shells, pottery, and other items that Dr. Morse excavated are mostly stored at the University Museum of the University of Tokyo and are Japan's Important Cultural Property.


Transportation

The Ōmori Shell Mounds are located within five-minutes' walk from the north entrance of Ōmori Railway Station of the JR Keihin–Tōhoku Line.Omori Shell Mounds (Live Japan)
/ref>


See also

*
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 ...


References


External links


The Omori Shellmounds (Shinagawa Historical Museum)
{{Authority control Shell middens in Japan Shinagawa Tourist attractions in Tokyo