Iwajuku

Iwajuku
岩宿遺跡

Iwajuku Museum
Region JP
Coordinates 36°23′57″N 139°17′09″E / 36.39917°N 139.28583°E / 36.39917; 139.28583Coordinates: 36°23′57″N 139°17′09″E / 36.39917°N 139.28583°E / 36.39917; 139.28583
Type landmark
History
Founded 10th millennium BC
Periods Japanese Paleolithic
Site notes
Ownership Public
Public access Yes
Website www.city.midori.gunma.jp/iwajuku/index.html

Iwajuku (岩宿遺跡 Iwajuku iseki) is an archaeological site in Midori, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. The site was excavated in 1949 by amateur archaeologist Aizawa Tadahiro, who confirmed the existence of two cultural strata, one of which contained small tools such as Projectile points and blades made of obsidian and agate from the Japanese Paleolithic period. This overturned the prevalent theory that human habitation of the Japanese archipelago began with the Jomon period, and indicated that humans had resided before the 10th millennium BC, or since the end of the last ice age[1][2]

The site was designated a National Historic Site by the Japanese government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1979.[3]

References

Notes

  1. Keiji Imamura. Prehistoric Japan: new perspectives on insular East Asia p. 19.
  2. "Ancient Jomon of Japan", Habu Jinko, Cambridge Press, 2004
  3. Agency for Cultural Affairs
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