Kakoinohara Site (栫ノ原遺跡) is an archaeological site with traces of an early Jōmon period settlement, located in the Makishima neighborhood of the city of Minamisatsuma, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1997.
Overview
The site is situated on an isolated hill approximately 30 meters in elevation, in the eastern part of Minamisatsuma city on the west side of the Satsuma Peninsula, west of the confluence of the Manose River and the Kaseda River, facing the East China Sea.
Discovered in 1975 during the construction of a school, a full-scale archaeological excavation was conducted in 1977. Subsequently, a survey of the entire plateau, covering an area of 21,600 square meters, was carried out from 1989 to 1993. Stratigraphy revealed four artifact-bearing layers ranging from the early Jōmon period to the Yayoi period, with some Japanese Paleolithic artifacts also excavated from the lowest layer. Because the hill is composed of volcanic ash from Mount Sakurajima deposited atop a pumice plateau, the age of the site is clearly defined.
Archaeological Features
On the west side of the site, four stone-arranged hearths were discovered, including boat-shaped stone-arranged hearths with long axes of approximately 75 centimeters made of tuff slabs. Additionally, 22 stone-collecting remains and eight prehistoric storage pits were found. The stone-collecting remains consist of dozens of fist-sized pebbles arranged together; the pebbles have turned black or red from heat exposure, and charcoal is usually present, suggesting they were used for cooking over fire.
The boat-shaped stone hearth is a distinctive feature also found at other early Jōmon period sites in southern Kyushu. It consists of a large oval pit connected to a small circular pit by a tunnel (chimney). Eight such structures were excavated at this site. Animal fatty acids, believed to be from wild boars, were found in the pits, reinforcing the interpretation that these were facilities for smoking meat.
Artifacts
Over 1,000 pieces of Jōmon pottery with raised band patterns (隆帯文土器) were recovered, along with a large number of stone tools including stone arrowheads, stone axes, grinding stones, hammer stones, lithic cores, whetstones, and scrapers. The ground stone axes include examples with a circular cross-section and a chisel-shaped blade, similar to stone axes found in Southeast Asia and southern China, which were used to build dugout canoes.
A large amount of carbonized nuts was found in a storage pit from the early Jōmon period, and numerous grinding stones and stone plates used for flour milling were also discovered, indicating the development of facilities and tools for permanent settlement. However, the absence of evidence for pit dwellings suggests that the inhabitants may still have been at least partly nomadic.
Environmental Context
The site is significant for understanding the transition from the Paleolithic to the Jōmon period in southern Kyushu. The Satsuma volcanic ash layer from Mount Sakurajima, dating back approximately 11,500 years, serves as a key chronological marker. Pollen analysis indicates that evergreen broad-leaved forests appeared during the early Jōmon period, reflecting a warming climate.
See Also
- List of Historic Sites of Japan (Kagoshima)
References
- "栫ノ原遺跡" (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- Isomura, Yukio; Sakai, Hideya (2012). National Historic Site Encyclopedia (国指定史跡事典). 学生社. ISBN 978-4311750403.
