32 ^N' f- i 7 ^ a :ic y !r )V §\i :^ y (7) ^X^^ 



embankment, and the I'o^ smaller places with dykes or ditches dug round them. 

 A'2/t may mean a " belt " or " girdle." Kot itself has various shades of meaning 

 such as " dyke," "ditch," "little valley;" then a "grave," and a "house site." 

 The word is found to enter into many place names such as for example, Kotoni, 

 " the place where there is a dyke," Shumunkot, " the place where there is the 

 southern dyke ; " Kutchan or Kotchan, " the locality where there are many dykes " 

 or " the place of belts " or " girdles." 



Without, however, entering more fully at the present time into the matter of 

 the cJiasJii and kot of the Ainu it is the purpose of this paper to deal more particu- 

 larly with the so-called ir(?r<7/'(?/i'-^7/;7/ or Pit-dwellers of Yezo. A great deal has 

 been written from time about these people and the pits which are still found to 

 exist, not only on the Island of Yezo and about the Chishima group, but also in 

 hundreds of places throughout the Japanese Empire. Among foreigners, for inst- 

 ance, we remember the names of such men as Captain Blakiston, Prof. 

 Chamberlain, Prof. Milne, Captain Snow, and Dr. Munro ; while among 

 Japanese writers we will mention only Mr. Nagata Hosei, Dr. JiMBO, Prof. 

 TSUBOI, and Prof. TORII. For the latest, most thorough, and fullest treatment of 

 the subject I would point to Primitive Culture in Japan, by Dr. Munro, in vol. 34, 

 Part 2, The Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, 1906. But of these 

 authors the present writer does not now propose to treat any further than in so far 

 as they touch upon Hokkaido. 



That the early inhabitants of this part of the P^mpire really lived in pits is too 

 well known to need further proof The pits are here in evidence and may be seen 

 at various places at any time. Sometimes they are found to have been dug in level 

 places while at others they will be seen to have been scooped out of the side of a 

 cliff or in a bank. There is, however, no evidence to show that the people ever 

 lived in caves. In Yezo these remains are most often to be found, in so far as has 

 yet been observed, near the sea, and not far from the banks of rivers. And, not 

 only have they been hitherto frequently met with, but they are still being discover- 

 ed in unlooked for places while the land is being newly cleared and opened up for 

 farming purposes, as for example near Shikerebe and Penakori in Saru. It should 

 also be remarked in passing that the pits are naturally disappearing as the country 

 gradually becomes populated and brought under cultivation, as for example in and 

 about Kushiro, where, it may be observed, hundreds of such pits might be seen 

 thirty years ago and many stone implements and pieces of pottery picked up. 



Koropok-giiru is the name now given to the people who made these pits 

 and manufactured these stone implements and used this pottery. With regard to 



