Onnagata ruins

Located on the left bank of the Kinu River in Onnagata, Chikusei City, Ibaraki Prefecture, this archaeological site spans the late Jomon period, the final period, and the Yayoi culture. In 1939 (Showa 14), Tanaka Kunio, a doctor in Utsunomiya City, excavated over 40 circular pits from the middle Yayoi period. Many pieces of pottery, including jars with human faces, were buried in these pits. The pits were reburial graves in which bones from a previous burial or exposure to the elements were divided and placed in several pottery vessels. The number of pottery vessels in a circular pit varied from three to as many as eight, and more than 200 pieces of pottery were excavated from the 40 or so pits. At the time, it was not known that this was a cemetery, and it was thought to be a ritual site. Also, considering that they were the product of a transitional period when the Jomon and Yayoi cultures came into contact, in 1961 Otsuka Kogeisha published a well-written book with many clear illustrations entitled "Research on the Jomon-Yayoi Contact Culture." The valuable artifacts excavated from the female part of the residence were all donated to the Tokyo National Museum.

[Esaka Teruya]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

茨城県筑西(ちくせい)市女方、鬼怒(きぬ)川左岸台地上にある縄文時代後期末以降、晩期、弥生(やよい)文化にわたる遺跡。1939年（昭和14）宇都宮市で医者をしていた田中国男が弥生時代中期の円形土壙(どこう)を40余か所発掘。これら土壙内には人面付壺(つぼ)など多数の土器が埋納されていた。土壙は、一度埋葬または風葬された遺骨を数個の土器内に分骨して収めた再葬墓で、一円形土壙内の土器の数は3個から多いものは8個と一定せず、40余の土壙から出土した土器は200個以上の数に達した。当時は墓地ということがわからず、祭祀(さいし)遺跡と考えられた。また縄文文化と弥生文化が接触した過渡的時期の所産と考え、44年大塚巧芸社から『縄文式弥生式接触文化の研究』と題する鮮明な図版の多い好著が刊行された。この女方出土の貴重な遺物は一括、東京国立博物館へ寄贈された。

［江坂輝彌］

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