By MOMOKO JINGU/ Staff Writer
July 28, 2021 at 17:35 JST
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee decided on July 27 it will register prehistoric Jomon Period archaeological sites in Hokkaido and the northern Tohoku region to the World Cultural Heritage list.
The Jomon Pottery Culture Period (c. 14,500 B.C.-1,000 B.C.) sites include the notable Sannai Maruyama site, which hosts the remains of a large settlement, and is designated as a special national historic site by Japan.
The sites will become the 20th World Cultural Heritage sites in Japan and will be the first from the pre-Christian era. If World Natural Heritage sites are included, it will be the 25th.
The Jomon sites comprise 17 archaeological locations in Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate and Akita prefectures.
Those sites date to various periods during the Jomon Period, which lasted for more than 10,000 years.
The Odai Yamamoto site in Sotogahama, Aomori Prefecture, is where Japan's oldest class of earthenware pieces were discovered.
The Sannai Maruyama site in Aomori, which dates to the middle Jomon Period, is home to the remains of a large settlement where clay dolls were excavated. The archaeological finds there show the development of ancient rituals and ceremonies.
The Oyu Stone Circles in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture, contain the remains of rituals, mainly consisting of stone circles.
Kitakogane Kaizuka site is home to shell mounds and the remains of the settlement in Date, Hokkaido.
While farming, raising livestock and settling started at almost the same time around the world, the Jomon people are unique in that they began settling in one place while they continued hunting, gathering and fishing.
The clay dolls and graves that were excavated show the elaborate and complex spiritual culture that the Jomon people had developed.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to UNESCO, acknowledged the inherent value of all 17 archaeological sites and recommended them for listing in May.
ICOMOS said that the Jomon sites, dating back about 15,000 years, show how people lived in settlements before they started farming and developed an elaborate spiritual culture.
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The Sannai Maruyama site, one of the Jomon Period ruins found across Hokkaido and the northern Tohoku region, is shown here in Aomori on May 24. The pit dwellings are reproduced. (Ryo Ikeda)
