502 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 112 



L^ter Jomon Period 



Tn the town of Hiroshima, east of Sapporo, is a rather large site on 

 a hilltop north of the small stream that passes through the center of 

 the town. In fields behind a large shrine and across from the town's 

 primary school is a portion of a site containing hundreds of sherds 

 and numerous stone artifacts and chips. Recent Ainu graves intrusive 

 to the site yield glass beads, iron swords, etc., of Japanese origin. 

 No excavation was made at this site, but surface collecting produced 

 the following: 



In summing up, I must first express the hope that the findings 

 reported herein will stimulate and challenge others to enter the field 

 of Japanese archeology. Additional research in this hitherto almost 

 unexplored area will, no doubt, produce results that will contribute 

 much to our knowledge of the prehistory of the entire Far East and 

 north Pacific region, including the Bering Strait approaches to North 

 America. 



The stratigraphic evidence and the Carbon-14 dates from the three 

 excavation sites demonstrate that Hokkaido has been the setting since 

 at least 2000 B.C. for a sequence of cultures almost identical to that 

 of Honshu. The many similarities in ceramics, stone implements, 

 pit houses, and the hint of iron working at the Tanaka Site, as com- 

 pared with the Ogawara Pit House Culture of northern Honshu, permit 

 the conclusion that the people responsible for both sites were identical 

 culturally and probably racially. Such a long time span with its 

 numerous close parallels indicates frequent cultural contacts, if not 

 actual migrations and intermarrying of the peoples of the two islands. 



The indications of a nonceramic period in Hokkaido, while not 

 conclusive, hint of a far longer occupation there by man before 2000 

 B.C. How much longer is unknown at this time. Recent finds on 

 Honshu prove a preceramic occupation there, and more thorough 

 search of Hokkaido may demonstrate a similar situation in the 

 northern island. 



