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 ...

containing the ruins of a

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 ...

cave dwelling located in what is now the northern part of the town of

Takahata, Yamagata Yamagata Takahata Winery is a town located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 23,367, in 7629 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Takahata ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1980.

Overview

The site consists of three caves which are located in on a

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

cliff near the headwaters of the Ichinosawa River, a tributary of the Yashiro River that flows into Yonezawa Basin, at an elevation of approximately 40 meters above the valley floor. The caves were discovered in 1958 and excavated in 1960. Cave 1 extends 40 meters into the hill, and was found to contain a stratified cultural layer two meters in thickness. The uppermost layer contained shards of

Haji ware is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been found ...

pottery and iron fragments from the

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 ...

, the second layer had pottery and

stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...

s from the early Jōmon period (4000–2500 BCE) . The third layer had the most abundant artifacts, with a large amount of Jōmon earthenware and stone tools dating from the Incipient Jōmon (14,000–7500 BCE). The site is one of several similar cave dwelling sites which have been found in the vicinity. It is located approximately 30 minutes by car from

Takahata Station is a junction railway station in the city of Takahata, Yamagata, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is unique in having an ''onsen'' hot spa on its premises. Lines Takahata Station is served by the Yamagata Shinkan ...

on the

Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yamagata ...

References

External links

Takahata city official site

Yamagata Prefecture site
{{in lang, ja History of Yamagata Prefecture Takahata, Yamagata Historic Sites of Japan Jōmon period sites Cave dwellings

Overview

See also

References

External links