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Address 字, Kanita Odaiyamagen, Sotogahama, Higashitsugaru District, Aomori Prefecture, Japan Similar Isedōtai site, Ōyu Stone Circles, Korekawa Site, Sannai‑Maruyama site, Aomori Prefectural Museum | ||
The Odai Yamamoto I site (大平山元I遺跡, Ōdaiyamamoto ichi iseki) is a Jōmon-period archaeological site in Sotogahama, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Excavations in 1998 uncovered forty-six earthenware fragments which have been dated as early as 14,500 BC (ca 16,500 BP); this places them among the earliest pottery currently known. As the earliest in Japan, this marks the transition from the Japanese Paleolithic to Incipient Jōmon. Other pottery of a similar date has been found at Gasy and Khummy on the lower Amur River. Such a date puts the development of pottery before the warming at the end of the Pleistocene.
Contents
Site
area of 148 m2 was excavated in 1998. Finds included axes, spearheads, arrowheads, scapers, blades, and anvils, mostly of local shale but some also of obsidian. The arrowheads are of special significance as they push back the beginnings of the history of archery. The site forms part of a serial nomination submitted in 2009 for future inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, under criteria iii and iv: Jōmon Archaeological Sites in Hokkaidō, Northern Tōhoku, and other regions.
Dating
Thirty of the forty-six fragments of pottery, all from the same vessel, had carbonized residues, suggesting its use for the cooking of foodstuffs. Eight AMS radiocarbon dates were generated from five of the fragments and three pieces of associated charred wood; these suggested a date of 11,800 to 11,500 BC. With calibration, this dating was pushed back to 14,500 to 14,000, as early as around 16,500 BP. Other datings have given a range between 13780 ± 170 and 12680 ± 140 BC. This makes the site important to the understanding of the transition between the Pleistocene and the Holocene. In recognition of their importance, the excavated artefacts have been designated a Municipal Cultural Property.