CULTURAL SEQUENCES IN HOKKAIDO MacCORD 483 



Izanami. Nothing could be published that conflicted with this 

 myth. In such a repressive atmosphere, no Japanese dared under- 

 take the necessary research to identify the people of the shell mounds 

 or to establish once and for all the identity of the Ainu. Since 1945 

 archeological work by both Japanese and Westerners has begun to 

 illuminate the problems and to hint at solutions. 



Archeological work in Hokkaido has been greatly neglected, though 

 sites attributable to prehistoric cultures and to historic Ainu and 

 Yamato occupancy are numerous. These sites comprise shell 

 mounds, caves, stone "circles," earthen-walled enclosures, quarry 

 workshops, groups of still-visible housepits, and many sites yielding 

 both ceramic and nonceramic artifacts in topsoil of varying depths. 

 Surface collections indicate occupancy of these sites during the entire 

 range of the Jomon Period, as well as during the protohistoric and 

 historic eras. Dates for these periods are unknown, but the Jomon 

 Period is Japan's Neolithic Period and occurred possibly from 3000 

 B.C. to A.D. 500, while the historic era begins about A.D. 1400. In 

 addition, many sites yield only implements of flint and obsidian and 

 may well be of preceramic age. 



Taniguchi Site 



The Taniguchi Site is on the left bank of the Ishikari River, 1 kilo- 

 meter west of the town of Barato, 13 kilometers north of Sapporo. 

 The site is at the northeastern tip of a sandy terrace that abuts on 

 the river at this point, as well as at other points to the west. This 

 sandy terrace is of uneven elevation and appears to have originated 

 as beach dunes at some time in the geologic past, when the mouth of 

 the Ishikari was near this point. The property is owned by Mr. 

 Jinsaku Taniguchi, of Sapporo, who kindly consented to our making 

 a limited excavation on the site. Since most of the site is occupied 

 by houses, barns, and gardens of the Taniguchi homestead, no major 

 excavation was made. A search of the fields and garden, however, 

 revealed the extent of the refuse-strewn area to be about 2 acres. 

 In a low swale adjacent to the houses the refuse appeared to be con- 

 centrated, and this area was selected as the site for a test excavation 

 5 meters square. The site map (fig. 2) shows the location of the 

 tested area in relation to the houses. 



Surface materials found on the site consist of numerous cord- 

 marked (Jomon) sherds, plentiful chips of obsidian and flint, and 

 occasional finished implements such as projectile points, knives, 

 scrapers, celts, and hammerstones. No bones, shells, or other 

 organic materials were found. 



The excavations were begun on May 2, 1953, and completed on 

 May 31, 1953. My assistants in this work were Messrs. Hatsuji 



