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 fortified settlement dating to the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

in what is now the Namioka neighborhood of the city of

Aomori , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...

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 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 ...

. The ruins were designated a National Historic Site in 2012 by the Japanese government.

Overview

During the middle Heian period, the very far northern portion of Mutsu province was only tenuously within the control of the central government and was largely in the hands of

Emishi The were a group of people who lived in parts of northern Honshū in present-day Japan, especially in the Tōhoku region. The first mention of the Emishi in literature that can be corroborated with outside sources dates to the 5th century AD, ...

tribes. In the latter half of the 11th century, the region experienced several major conflicts, including the

Zenkunen War The , also known in English as the Former Nine Years' War or the Early Nine Years' War, was fought between the Imperial Court in Kyoto, Imperial Court and the Abe clan in Mutsu Province, in Tōhoku region, Northeast Japan, from 1051 to 1062. It ...

and

Gosannen War The Gosannen War (後三年合戦, ''gosannen kassen''), also known as the Later Three-Year War, was fought in the late 1080s in Japan's Mutsu Province on the island of Honshū. History The Gosannen War was part of a long struggle for power ...

. The Takayashikidate site was a moated settlement with a protected area of approximately 30,000 square meters (500 meters north-south by 90 meters east-west), in the center of which are the ruins of a fortified village inhabited from the 10th century through the 12th century AD, or the middle to end of the Heian period. The moat ranged from six to eight meters in width and up to four meters deep, and had an earthen

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

and wooden

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

. The settlement itself measured approximately 110 meters north-south by 80 meters east-west and contained at least 86 buildings, some of which were

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 and some of which were stilt-pillar buildings connected by passageways. There is a gap in the earthworks on the west side of the moat, which had a gate with many pillars, and a wooden bridge was built in the southwest, which is thought to have provided an entrance and exit. The location of the site is on a

fluvial terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated Terrace (geology), terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplai ...

on the west bank of the Daishaka River at an altitude of 35-45 meters. The site was discovered in 1994, during construction of the Namioka Bypass on Japan National Route 7. Partial excavation work was undertaken from 2004 to 2005 by the Aomori Board of Education, and approximately half of the settlement area was excavated. As a result of the excavation, the route of the bypass was shifted to the west to preserve the site. A large number of artifacts were discovered, including fragments of cloth, housing materials,

Sue pottery was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and origi ...

, lacquerware, agriculture tools, smithing tools and accessories and weapons. Due to the large amount of iron slag discovered, it appears that the settlement was a center for blacksmithing or metal working. The settlement was abandoned for unknown reasons, and the moat became filled in. The area was subsequently used as an orchard. The site is approximately five 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 ...

Namioka Station on the

Ōu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Fukushima Station (Fukushima), Fukushima Station through Akita Station to Aomori Station. Since the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen on July 1, 1 ...

References

External links

Aomori City official site

{{in lang, ja Archaeological sites in Japan Tourist attractions in Aomori Prefecture Heian period Aomori (city) History of Aomori Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan

Overview

See also

References

External links