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 ...

consisting of a series of

Shell middens A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupat ...

and the remains of an adjacent settlement located in the village of

Higashidōri is a List of villages in Japan, village located in Aomori Prefecture, Aomori, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 5,913 in 2829 households, and a population density of 20 persons per km2. Its total area is . Geography Higashid� ...

on the

Shimokita Peninsula The is the remote northeastern cape of the Japanese island of Honshū, stretching out towards Hokkaido. Overview It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, Tsugaru Strait to the north and Mutsu Bay to the west and south. Shaped like an ...

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

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 (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

of far northern

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 has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 2006.

Overview

Shell middens have been found in many locations in Japan, and are usually associated with

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

settlements. The shell middens located on Cape Shiriyazaki are highly unusual in that they date from the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, and consist almost exclusively of

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...

shells, with an average diameter of around six centimeters. During the Muromachi period, trade between Japan and China flourished, and dried abalone was an important export product, mentioned frequently in contemporary documents. The site consists of a series of 14 shell middens dating from the early 14th to the mid-15th centuries AD. Also on the site were the remains of ovens and the foundation holes for several buildings and wells. Both Japanese and Chinese coins and fragments of both Japanese and Chinese ceramics have been found at the site. These finds led archaeologists to the conclusion that the site was an early factory for the production of dried abalone. It is uncertain of any trade took place directly from this site with China, although the presence of Chinese coins and ceramics raises the possibility. In an excavation conducted in 2002, a fragment of a human skull was found at the site, and upon analysis was determined to date from about 500 to 700 years ago and share traits belonging to both Ainu and contemporary Japanese.Dodo Y. and Kawakubo Y. (2002) Cranial affinities of the Epi-Jomon inhabitants in Hokkaido, Japan. ''Anthropological Science'', 110: 1-32. There are no public facilities at the site, which is located approximately 10 minutes by car from the

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

Shimokita Station.

References

External links

Higashidōri home page

{{in lang, ja Higashidōri, Aomori Muromachi period Shell middens in Japan History of Aomori Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan

Overview

See also

References

External links