CULTURAL SEQUENCES IN HOKKAIDO— MaCCOH I) 497 



reeds (Japanese-Yoshi), which had been converted into charcoal. 

 No sherds were found in or near this small pit. 



At many places around the sides of the house lloor and at several 

 places near the center were found charred wood representing fallen 

 roof timbers. Four interior supporting posts for the roof were evi- 

 denced by the postmolds equally spaced in the four corners of the 

 pit. These molds were from 18 to 20 inches deep and were rounded 

 on the bottom. The postholes were about 1 foot in diameter, while 

 the actual post mold was only 5 to 6 inches thick. 



The location of the supporting posts and the orientation of the 

 charred roof timbers indicate that the roof framing consisted of a 

 square lintel connecting the tops of the four posts. The roof mem- 

 bers were undoubtedly poles laid from the ground surface over the 

 lintels and meeting in the center to form a four-sided pyramid. That 

 this roof was covered with thatch is indicated by the presence of 

 charred marsh reeds in quantity in the floor debris. 



Since so much of the roof structure has been converted to charcoal, 

 it seems that the roof must have been covered with earth that smoth- 

 ered the fire when the roof collapsed. The few Jomon Period sherds 

 found in the pit (ill could have come from the earth used on the roof. 

 The earth had probably been scraped up from the immediate vicinity 

 of the house. No trace of a prepared floor was found, nor were there 

 any sublloor storage pits or additional hearths. 



Cultural material found in the fdl of the housepit was not plentiful. 

 Stone implements (411G4G) consist of three retouched flakes of 

 obsidian, apparently used as scrapers. Two basal halves of vessels 

 of the Haji type (411644), and nine miscellaneous sherds (411645) of 

 the same type indicate the occupants of the house. Eight Jomon 

 Period sherds of the Nopporo type were found scattered through the 

 fill dirt. The two fragmentary Haji vessels are flat-bottomed vases 

 with llaring sides. One base is 3 inches and the other &% inches in 

 diameter. Both are marked with the impressions of a bamboo leaf, 

 possibly Sasa palmata (identification by Dr. F. A. McClure, Depart- 

 ment of Botany, U.S. National Museum). 



Apparently in the manufacture of the vases, the molded base of 

 moist clay was placed on a section of leaf, and as coils were added to 

 build the sidewalls, the leaf was turned, thus serving as a turntable, 

 and possibly in imitation of the potters' wheel. The clay of the two 

 fragmentary vases is a pale } r ellow with occasional blotches of red or 

 brown, apparently representing firing inequalities. Temper in both 

 vases is quart/ sand. Both vases are plain, though they show ver- 

 tical marks of scraping of exterior surfaces and similar horizontal 

 marks on inner surfaces. 



A sample of the charcoal found on the floor of house 1 was collected 

 for Carbon-14 dating. Dr. Meyer Rubin of the Low Level Radiation 



644608— 60 2 



