Tarukishi Site
42°45′49″N 140°16′10.8″E / 42.76361°N 140.269667°E
The Tarukishi Site (Japanese: 樽岸遺跡, Hepburn: Tarukishi iseki) (also Tarugishi) is a late Paleolithic archeological site that was discovered in 1954.[1] The site is near 141 Igarashi, Kuromatsunai, Suttsu District, Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.[2] The excavated remains were designated a Tangible Cultural Property of Hokkaido on December 20, 1957.[3]
The site lies on a river terrace near the Sea of Japan and its artifacts lie at a depth of about 50 centimeters (20 in). The site is about 147.5 square meters (176.4 sq yd). A farmer found large stone blades but no pottery and reported it to the Hakodate City Museum.[4] The initial research team, led by the Hakodate City Museum, excavated the Tarukishi ruins. The team included staff from the Hakodate City Museum, as well as Hiromichi Kono of Hokkaido University of Education, Toshio Oba of Hokkaido University, and Sosuke Sugihara of Meiji University.[1]
Stone tools
The Tarukishi Site was the first in Hokkaido to have a blade industry.[5] Besides large blades, side and end scrapers, cores, and flakes were also found.[6] All of the artifacts excavated were stone tools made from shale, including large stone blades, end scrapers, and stone cores made using the blade technique, which are clearly different from stone tools from the Jomon period, but no pottery was found.[1] The excavation report considered the stone tools to be dated to an earlier stage of the Late Paleolithic period, but subsequent research has led to the stone tools now being recognized as belonging to the microblade culture of the latter half of the Late Paleolithic period. The excavation of the Tarugishi site was a monumental event in the dawn of Paleolithic research in Hokkaido, and the 72 items excavated, including stone blades, flake tools, boat-shaped stone tools, cores, and flakes, were designated as Hokkaido Tangible Cultural Properties in 1957.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 "樽岸出土の石器" [Stone tools excavated from Tarugishi] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
- ↑ "北の遺跡案内について" [Northern Ruins Guide (you have to call up the map and search it in Japanese)]. Lifelong Learning Promotion Bureau, Cultural Properties and Museum Division, Cultural Properties Research Section (in Japanese). Hokkaido Prefectural Board of Education. April 1, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
- ↑ "北海道が指定した文化財一覧" [List of cultural properties designated by Hokkaido] (in Japanese). Hokkaido Board of Education. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
- ↑ Hewes, Gordon W.; Kono, Hiromichi; et al. (1957). "Tarukishi Excavation Report: Tarukishi Remains". American Anthropologist. 59 (1): 186. JSTOR 666585.
- ↑ Irving, William N.; Befu, Harumi (April 1961). "Tarukishi Remains Tachikawa: Pre-Ceramic Stone Industries at the Tachikawa Site, Southern Hokkaido". American Antiquity. 26 (4): 578–579. JSTOR 278770.
- ↑ Kidder, J. Edward (1957). "Japan". Asian Perspectives. 1 (1, 2): 31–32. JSTOR 42927614.
Further reading
- Okada, Hiroaki (1964). "Hiromichi Kono, 1905-1963". Arctic Anthropology. 2 (2): 149–154. JSTOR 40315598.
- Kono, Hiromichi (1955). "Tarukishi kyusekki bunka no kosatsu" [Some Considerations of the Palaeolithic Culture of Tarukishi]. Hokkaido Daiyonki Kenkyukai Renraku-shi (in Japanese). Sapporo: 5–7.
- Kono, Hiromichi; Oba, Toshio (1955). "Tarukishi Shutsudo no Ibutsu Gaiho" [Preliminary Report on the Artifacts from Tarukishi]. Hokkaido Tarukishi Iseki Hakkutsu Chosa Hokoku Yono (in Japanese): 18–20.
- Kono, Hiromichi; Oba, Toshio; Takeuchi, Shuta (1956). Tarukishi Shutsudo no Sekki no Kansatsu [Observations on the Stone Implements Excavated at Tarukishi] (in Japanese). Hakodate: Hakodate City Museum. pp. 21–25.