Description : The Kakinoshima Site (垣ノ島遺跡, Kakinoshima iseki) is an archaeological site consisting of a series of large shell middens and the remains of an adjacent settlement from the Jōmon period. The site is in what is now part of the city of Hakodate in Oshima Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan. It has been protected by the central government as a Historic Site since 7 February 2011. The site covers an area of 92.749 square kilometers (35.811 sq mi). The Kakinoshima Site was a community with several pit dwellings, including smaller family homes and some larger homes that were inhabited from 7000 BC to 1000 BC. The dates of the site's habitation correspond to the early, middle, and late subsections of the Jōmon period of Japanese history. The community was positioned on a marine terrace alongside the Pacific Ocean where two large earthen mounds were built by the inhabitants of the site. Artifacts found within the site include tablets with footprints that were found in a burial pit, a piece of jade jewelry, and 9,000 year old red lacquerware that are the oldest known pieces of lacquerware in the world.
See on map »