Futatsumori Shell Midden
Futatsumori Kaizuka · Futatsumori Site
Early to Middle Jomon 4500–2500 BCE (Jomon 2–4)·Early–Middle Jomon (Tōhoku coastal)·🇯🇵 Aomori Prefecture, Kamikita District, Shichinohe Town (Lake Ogawara lowland), Japan
Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0
About
About Futatsumori Shell Midden
Early–Middle Jomon coastal shell midden and settlement (c.4500–2500 BCE) at Shichinohe on the Lake Ogawara plain — massive shell mound 120×80 m (Late Jomon layers 3 m thick) with 40+ pit dwellings, burial pits, and deep shell lens (Corbicula and oyster) 4 m thick. Excavated 1998–2006, Futatsumori shows Jomon marine resource intensification (fish bones 20 species, sea mammal), lacquerware, and the longest-lived tidal shell midden in northern Honshu; UNESCO Jomon component (1632-006) contrasting inland stone circles.
Why it mattersLargest Early–Middle Jomon shell midden in Aomori; proves marine sedentism and long-distance obsidian-lacquer exchange before stone-circle Late Jomon.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why shift from Early coastal midden to inland Late stone circles?
Theories
- 01Sea-level highstand resource boom → later inland ritual aggregation
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.4500 BCE Early Jomon; shell mound 3500–2500 BCE peak
- Period
- Early to Middle Jomon 4500–2500 BCE (Jomon 2–4)
- Culture
- Early–Middle Jomon (Tōhoku coastal)
- Builders
- Jomon fisher-hunter-gatherers (Lake Ogawara)
- Purpose
- Permanent coastal fishing village and shell-processing–burial center
- Abandoned
- c.2300 BCE (sea-level fall)
- Rediscovered
- 1998–2006 Aomori Prefecture excavation
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.4500 BCE
Early Jomon pit dwellings founded on beach ridge
c.3500–2500 BCE
Massive Corbicula/oyster shell mound 120×80 m accumulated; 40 pit houses
2021
UNESCO Jomon Prehistoric Sites 1632-006 inscription
On the ground
Structures & features
Gallery