Futatsumori Site

The Futatsumori Site, known primarily in Japanese as the Futatsumori Shell Mound (二ツ森貝塚, Futatsumori Kaizuka), is an archaeological site consisting of a series of large shell middens and the remains of an adjacent settlement from the Jōmon period, located in what is now part of the town of Shichinohe in Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1998. The site covers an area of about 30 hectares.

Overview

During the early to middle Jōmon period (approximately 3500 to 2000 BC), sea levels were five to six meters higher than at present, and the ambient temperature was also 2 °C higher. During this period, the Tōhoku region was inhabited by the Jōmon people, many of whom lived in coastal settlements. The middens associated with such settlements contain bone, botanical material, mollusc shells, sherds, lithics, and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with the now-vanished inhabitants, and these features, provide a useful source into the diets and habits of Jōmon society.

The Futatsumori Site is one of the largest found in the Tōhoku region, and is located on a 30 meter high plateau on the west bank of Lake Ogawara, which was a salt-water inlet of the Pacific Ocean at that time. It consists of several shell middens divided into two areas on the northern and southern slopes of the plateau.

The western section consists of seven smaller shell middens forming a rough shell ring. The eastern area consists of five much larger shell middens, also forming a rough shell ring, and enclosing the remains of the settlement.