Hayamizudai ruins - Hayamizudai ruins

An important Paleolithic and early Jomon archaeological site located in Nishikobukae, Hiji-cho, Hayami-gun, Oita Prefecture. The first and second excavations were carried out in June and November 1953, and a third survey was carried out in 1964. Remains of dwellings accompanied by pottery and stone tools, mainly early Jomon pressed-pattern pottery, have been found in the upper dark brown soil layer, making this a vast early Jomon archaeological site of interest. The lower layer is divided into two periods, with the upper part containing late Paleolithic tools and the lower part containing early Paleolithic tools mainly made of breccia. The stone tools excavated from this breccia layer were mainly made from quartz vein rock, and many of them are made of materials common to stone tools made by Chinese Homo sapiens. Although there have been some criticisms regarding the age of the cultural layer where the stone tools were excavated and the shape of the stone tools, similar stone tools have begun to be excavated in China and the Korean Peninsula, and the site is highly regarded as a promising site for the Early Paleolithic period.

[Mitsuo Kagawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大分県速見(はやみ)郡日出(ひじ)町西小深江(にしこぶかえ)にある旧石器時代、縄文早期の重要遺跡。発掘は1953年（昭和28）6月、11月の一次、二次に続き64年の三次調査が行われた。上層の黒褐色土層には縄文早期押型文(おしがたもん)土器を主体とする土器、石器を伴う住居跡がみつかっており、広大な縄文早期遺跡として注目される。下層は二期に分類され、上部は後期旧石器、下部は角礫(かくれき)層を主体とする前期旧石器の確認が得られた。この角礫層出土の石器群は、おもに石英脈岩を材料にしたもので、中国原人の石器材料に共通したものが多い。石器を出土する文化層の年代や石器の形態など、一部には批判の声もあるが、中国や朝鮮半島に類似の石器が出土し始め、前期旧石器の有力遺跡として評価は高い。

［賀川光夫］

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