Mizuko Shell Midden
水子貝塚 · Mizuko Kaizuka · Fujimi Mizuko · Saitama Jomon Midden
Jomon 6000–1800 BCE (Early to Final) stratified·Jomon (Kanto)·🇯🇵 Saitama Prefecture, Fujimi City, Mizuko district, on Musashino Terrace edge above Arakawa lowland, Japan
About
About Mizuko Shell Midden
Kanto's Jomon stratigraphic bible — Mizuko Kaizuka on the Musashino upland edge (c.6000–1800 BCE): 5× stratified shell midden with linked dwelling zone (35 pit houses exposed), 132 m long shell heap (shell 80% Yamato shijimi Corbicula) proving Holocene Jomon transgression. 1917 Yamanouchi Sugao type-site, 1960s–2000s Saitama excavations (Sekiko? Nozawa) with foot-print pithouse floors and millet. Mizuko anchors Jomon–Yayoi shell-midden chronology for Kanto and is to Kanto what Teraji–Mawaki are to Chubu–Hokuriku, with period replica park.
Why it mattersKanto's longest Jomon shell heap stratigraphy calibrating the Jomon transgression sealevel curve and footprint house design.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01132 m linear — single household discard or communal?
- 02Footprint floors — intentional ritual or functional?
Theories
- 01Mizuko as Kanto Jomon–Yayoi interface reflecting bayhead delta advance
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.6000 BCE Incipient shell scatter; main heap c.5000–3000 BCE
- Period
- Jomon 6000–1800 BCE (Early to Final) stratified
- Culture
- Jomon (Kanto)
- Builders
- Musashino Jomon foragers of the Arakawa embayment
- Purpose
- Estuarine shell midden and pit-house hamlet documenting Holocene sealevel (Jomon transgression) and millet
- Abandoned
- c.1800 BCE Jomon–Yayoi moat reconstruction? heap capping
- Rediscovered
- 1917 Yamanouchi; 1969– Saitama large block exposure (Mizuko Kaizuka Park)
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.6000–5000 BCE
Early Jomon estuarine — Yamato shijimi Corbicula heap base on Musashino loam
c.5000–3000 BCE
132 m main heap — 35 pit houses with footprint floors, millet and cord-pattern ware
1917
Yamanouchi identifies Jomon shell chronology at Mizuko
1969–
Block exposure preserves 132 m shell ridge and pit-house park reconstruction
On the ground
Structures & features
35.8200° N · 139.6100° E · 18 m · 2 mapped features
Mizuko Main Shell Heap (132 m Ridge)
midden132×12 m 2.1 m Corbicula shell heap forming terrace-edge ridge (estuarine transgression archive)
35.8203° N · 139.6103° EMizuko Pit-House Dwelling Cluster (35 Houses)
settlement35 Jomon pit houses 4 m diameter with footprint floors and millet hearths behind the heap
35.8197° N · 139.6097° E