Moated village

Japanese: 環濠集落 - かんごうしゅうらく

The Xinglongwa site, discovered in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China in recent years, is one of the oldest moated settlement sites dating back 7,000 to 8,000 years. The moat is 170m in diameter, and 1-2m wide and deep. Inside are remains of dwellings centered around large buildings, and some of the oldest jade artifacts have also been found. The moat is said to have been used to prevent livestock from escaping. It developed into a large moated settlement such as the Banpo site in Shaanxi Province 6,000 to 7,000 years ago. Its relationship with moated settlements in the Japanese archipelago is attracting attention. Meanwhile, in 1990, a moated settlement site dating back about 2,300 years was discovered in Geomdan-ri, Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province in southern Korea. The ditch appears to have been eroded considerably later, and although it is currently only 50cm to 1m wide and 1.1m deep at the entrance, it ran around the site for 300m in length. There were remains of about 100 houses inside. More than 400 moated settlement ruins, including the Yoshinogari ruins, are already known in Japan. Attention is focused on the results of this research to see how these are related.

(Amano Yukihiro, reporter for the Asahi Shimbun / Imai Kunihiko, reporter for the Asahi Shimbun / 2007)

Source : "Chiezo" published by Asahi Shimbun Publications Co., Ltd. About Chiezo

Japanese:

中国・内モンゴル自治区で近年、発見された興隆窪(こうりゅうわ)遺跡は7000〜8000年前の最古級の環濠集落遺跡。直径170m、環濠の幅と深さは1〜2m。内部に大型建物を中心とする住居跡群があり、最古級の玉器も見つかった。濠は家畜の逃亡防止用という。6000〜7000年前には陝西省・半坡(はんぱ)遺跡の大型環濠集落などに発展する。日本列島の環濠集落との関係が注目される。一方、韓国南部の慶尚南道・蔚山(ウルサン)・検丹里(コムダンニ)でも1990年に約2300年前の環濠集落遺跡が見つかった。溝は後にかなり削られたらしく、現存幅50cm〜1m、深さも入り口で1.1mだが、延長300mにわたって巡っていた。内部には約100棟の住居跡があった。日本ではすでに、吉野ケ里遺跡など400以上の環濠集落遺跡が分かっている。これらが、どう関連するのか研究成果が注目される。

(天野幸弘朝日新聞記者／今井邦彦朝日新聞記者／ 2007年)

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