Santonodai Site: A Multi-Period Settlement in Yokohama, Japan
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.1
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Japan
- Primary era
- Iron Age
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Stone Age, Iron Age, Classical
- Civilizations
- Jomon, Yayoi
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- House
On this page7 sections
History
Santonodai Site is a large multi-period settlement site in Yokohama, Japan, occupied from the Jōmon period through the Kofun period. The Jōmon period comprised prehistoric hunter-gatherer and early settled communities associated with cord-marked pottery, while the Yayoi period brought rice agriculture, more complex settlements, and wider use of metal objects. The Kofun period, named after large burial mounds, saw the development of early centralized political authority. Most of Santonodai’s remains belong to the Yayoi period.
Early Investigation
Small shell middens on the surrounding hill slopes first drew local attention. A shell midden is an accumulation of discarded shells and other food remains that can reveal past settlement and subsistence. In 1899, the physician Fujita Seihachi collected artifacts and investigated the area with the archaeologist and anthropologist Torii Ryūzō. At the time, the site was known as the Byōbugauramura shell mound. Fujita’s introduction of the site brought it to wider academic attention.
Large-Scale Excavation
Several small excavations followed. Between 1959 and 1961, a major investigation was undertaken under the direction of the archaeologist Wajima Seiichi, particularly because a neighboring elementary school planned to expand onto the plateau. The 1961 excavation covered the entire surviving area, approximately 10,000 square meters, and confirmed settlement activity from the Jōmon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods.
The excavation identified 252 pit-dwelling remains. Eight belonged to the Jōmon period, 43 to the Kofun period, and most of the remainder to the Yayoi period. A pit dwelling is a house partly or wholly sunk into the ground, identified through features such as its floor, postholes, hearth, and surrounding cuts. The concentration of remains from three periods established Santonodai as a large settlement site with a long history of occupation.
Protection and Public Presentation
Santonodai Site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1966. This designation identifies places of national historical or archaeological importance for protection under Japan’s cultural-property system. The Santonodai Archaeological Museum opened in 1967, allowing the site and its excavated materials to be presented together. The archaeological remains were preserved in place, while the excavated artifacts were stored and exhibited at the museum.
Remains
The preserved site occupies about 10,000 square meters on the edge of a small plateau approximately 55 meters above sea level, within a residential area. The original settlement is estimated to have covered about 40,000 square meters when areas that later disappeared are included. Its surviving archaeological features comprise pit-dwelling foundations and other remains from the Jōmon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods. Shell middens from the middle and late Jōmon periods and from the Yayoi period were formerly distributed around the settlement’s hill slopes.
Settlement Foundations
The excavated area has been backfilled, and pillars mark the positions of the foundation holes. Among the identified houses is a large oval pit dwelling whose major axis exceeded 14 meters. The preserved foundations provide the physical basis for understanding the settlement’s changing use across the three periods, while the marked postholes make the excavated layout visible within the archaeological park.
Restored Dwellings and Museum
Restored dwellings representing the Jōmon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods stand within the archaeological park above the preserved remains. Protective facilities cover excavated areas, and the restored buildings provide period-based representations alongside the in-situ archaeological features. The Santonodai Archaeological Museum displays artifacts and other materials recovered from the site, keeping the movable evidence together with the settlement remains.
