Sannai-Maruyama ruins - Sannai-Maruyama ruins

Japanese: 三内丸山遺跡 - さんないまるやまいせき

This Jomon period settlement site is located on a small plateau 3km southwest of JR Aomori Station in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture. Mutsu Bay can be seen to the northwest, and Mount Hakkoda to the south. In 1992, an excavation survey prior to the construction of a prefectural baseball field revealed the importance of the site, and it was decided to preserve it. The site is large, covering an area of 35 hectares. It became clear that the settlement's facilities - houses, graves, storehouses, and waste disposal sites - had been used in an orderly manner for a long period of time on designated land. Based on the excavation data, it was found that the settlement lasted for an unusually long period of time, spanning 1,500 years from the end of the Early to the end of the Middle Jomon period. In addition, the amount of pottery and other items discovered was approximately 40,000 cardboard apple boxes. The area of the area already surveyed is 5 hectares, and if the entire area is excavated, it is expected that an enormous amount of material will be excavated, with approximately 250,000 cardboard apple boxes. Moreover, the quality is high, the variety is great, and there is an abundance of material that will never run out of topics. It has come to be evaluated as a large site that overwhelms and surpasses other sites in terms of its scale, duration, and amount of material contained in the site. Individual pieces of information about the Sannai-Maruyama Site - the planned settlement design, roads and rows of graves, large-scale construction, burials and cemeteries, rituals and memorial services, chestnut cultivation, huge wooden pillars, vermilion lacquer and asphalt - have been reported minute by minute, and the Sannai-Maruyama Site has been given the title of "Jomon city." Currently, with the assistance of archaeology, cultural anthropology and other disciplines, extensive analysis of ecosystems, the environment, food cultivation and other areas is underway at this site, making it truly the "front line of Jomon literature." A closer look at the Sannai-Maruyama site will allow for a deeper interpretation of the possibility of giving the site the concept of a "city," its long-term continuity, and the supposedly vast amount of remains, and only then will the value of this site be established. It was designated a national historic site in 1997, and a special historic site in 2000 (Heisei 12).

[Masayoshi Mizuno]

World Heritage Registration

In 2021 (Reiwa 3), the Sannai-Maruyama Site was registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as a constituent asset of the "Jomon Sites in Hokkaido and Northern Tohoku" (World Cultural Heritage).

[Editorial Department, January 21, 2022]

[Reference item] | Aomori (city)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

青森県青森市、JR青森駅の南西3キロメートルにある小高い台地上の縄文時代集落遺跡。北西に陸奥(むつ)湾、南には八甲田(はっこうだ)山が望める。1992年（平成4）、県営野球場建設に先だつ発掘調査で遺跡の重要性が判明、保存が決定した。遺跡はその範囲が35ヘクタールという大規模なもの。集落の各施設－住居・墓・倉・残滓(ざんし)廃棄場が定められた地に、長期間整然と用益されている実態が明瞭(めいりょう)となった。発掘資料から推察すると、集落の存続期間は縄文時代前期の末から中期末まで1500年間にも及ぶ、まれにみる長期間であったことが判明し、加えて発見された土器などの量はリンゴ用段ボール箱で約4万箱、既調査地面積は5ヘクタール、全掘すればリンゴ用段ボール箱約25万箱と、膨大な量の資料が発掘されると予測される。しかも、質高く・多種多様・話題にこと欠かぬ豊富さである。遺跡規模・遺跡存続期間・遺跡包蔵物量ともに他の諸遺跡を圧倒・凌駕(りょうが)する大遺跡であると評価されるに至った。三内丸山遺跡のもつ個々の情報－計画的な集落設計、道路と墓列、大規模な造成、埋葬と墓地、祭祀(さいし)や供養、栗栽培、巨大木柱、朱漆やアスファルトなどが刻々と報道され、「縄文都市」という冠辞が三内丸山遺跡に与えられるに至った。現在、本遺跡をめぐっては考古学、文化人類学をはじめ諸学の援助を受け生態系、環境系、食料栽培など広汎(こうはん)な分析が進捗(しんちょく)しており、まさに「縄文学最前線」の観がある。三内丸山遺跡を熟視することで「都市」の概念を与えることの可否・長期間の連続性・膨大とされる遺物量の解釈がいっそう深められ、初めて本遺跡の価値は定着するであろう。1997年国の史跡に、2000年（平成12）特別史跡に指定。

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