Region JP Founded 2500 BCE Ownership Public | Type landmark Periods Jōmon period Period Jōmon period | |
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Area 75,842 square metres (820,000 sq ft) | ||
Goshono Site (御所野遺跡, Goshono iseki) is a Middle Jōmon period archaeological site in the town of Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. Discovered during the construction of an industrial park in 1989, the remains were designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1993 by the Japanese government.
Site
The Goshono site is a large scale residential settlement from the Middle Jōmon Period, approximately 2500 BC to 2000 BC. The site is located on the east bank of the Mabechi River, on raised ground at an altitude or approximately 190 meters. There are over 800 pit dwellings extending over 75,000 m² and the site has only partially been excavated.
The settlement contains two or three groups of pit-houses dwellings, located to the east and west of a central ceremonial area containing a necropolis and ritual buildings. Nearby earthen mounds have yielded burned animal bones, seeds, pottery fragments and stone tools.
The eastern settlement contains more than 250 pit-dwellings of various sizes and a number of grave pits. The central settlement has two stone circles surrounding grave pits, encircled by what appear to be post holes to create a colonnade and to support ritual buildings. The southern portion of this area is raised earthen work, within which a large amount of pottery, stone tools, and burnt bone and plant remnants. The number of structures is also estimated to be between 200 and 250. The western area is largely unexcavated, but appears to be a residential area with between 70-100 dwellings.
The site contains a museum and reconstructions of some pit-dwellings and other structures.
The museum building, which was designed after the mud-roofed buildings of the site, has won various awards such as the 2003 Good Design Award, and has a glass floor, under which a burnt-down pit dwelling from 4000 years ago is displayed.
The site is one of several submitted for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the Jōmon Archaeological Sites in Hokkaidō, Northern Tōhoku, and other regions