Jōmon flask-shaped storage pit
At Sannai Maruyama in Aomori, some Jōmon storage pits had a narrow mouth and broad floor, with larger examples reaching two metres deep; nuts or chestnuts are the proposed stores.
Built structures · Place · Pits and cavities
Higashimyo Jōmon wetland storage pits
At Higashimyo in Saga, 155 round Early Jōmon storage pits were about 40–70 cm wide and 1 m deep. More than 700 baskets were recovered; Saga City interprets acorn soaking as a possible use, not a documented arrangement.
A wetland storage zone
Higashimyo Site lies in Kinryu-cho, Saga City, in northern Kyushu. The site preserves a late Early Jōmon settlement from about 8,000 calibrated years ago. The national cultural-properties register describes a settlement organized across higher habitation ground, shell-midden slopes and a low wetland. In that wetland, about two to three metres below the local reference elevation, archaeologists identified 155 storage pits described as round, about 40–70 centimetres in diameter and approximately one metre deep.
The wetland setting preserved plant and wooden remains that rarely survive at other sites. More than 700 woven baskets were recovered in the pit group. These findings make Higashimyo an unusually rich source for understanding storage and plant use in early Jōmon life.
Sources for this section
A proposed basket-and-pit use
Saga City describes the baskets as tools that may have been used with dug holes: nuts such as acorns were placed in baskets and soaked in water. That could have supported storage or the processing of nuts, but the source presents this as an interpretation. The national register describes the pit group as round, about 40–70 centimetres in diameter and one metre deep; it does not document a single recipe, a specific water level, or the placement of one particular basket in one particular pit.
A city image shows reconstructed baskets, while the national database also records excavated basket finds. Neither source establishes that all 155 pits had the same shape or that every basket was used in a pit. The page therefore treats the cutaway illustration as one proposed arrangement, not a reconstruction of a known individual feature.
Sources for this section
Storage, not established fermentation
The archaeological record supports a wetland storage-pit group and a large basket assemblage. The city’s proposed soaking use is relevant to nut handling, but none of the sources consulted documents fermentation. The national register gives an approximate round pit form and dimensions, while the sources do not specify lining or covers or the exact relationship between particular baskets and pits.
Sources for this section
History
Saga City describes the Higashimyo site as an Early Jōmon settlement about 8,000 years old and interprets woven baskets as tools for placing nuts in dug holes and immersing them in water. The National Cultural Properties Database describes a final Early Jōmon site with 155 round storage pits in a low wetland at elevations around -2 to -3 metres, about 40–70 cm in diameter and approximately 1 metre deep, and over 700 baskets recovered from the pit group.
Site
SettingLowland wetland zone of the Higashimyo settlement, below higher habitation ground and shell-midden slopes.
GroundThe national designation record places 155 storage pits in the lowland at approximately -2 to -3 metres elevation. It does not specify pit lining or construction materials.
ClimateNot described in the pit records.
FootprintThe national register describes round storage pits about 40–70 cm in diameter and approximately 1 metre deep; it does not give a single measurement for every feature.
NotesThe national register gives a rounded size description for the pit group. The hypothesized basket-and-nut soaking use is described by Saga City; the exact relationship between particular baskets and pits is not established.
A build is made where it stands: moving it means building it again.
How it is built
Materials
- Ground in a low wetland — The national designation record places the storage-pit group in low wetland; exact soil construction or lining is not specified.
- Woven baskets — More than 700 baskets were recovered from the pit group; use in any one pit is not established.
- Acorns or other nuts — Saga City describes them as a proposed content, possibly soaked in water; this is an interpretation.
- The Higashimyo settlement included a lowland wetland zone with a group of 155 round storage pits, described in the national register as about 40–70 cm across and 1 metre deep, below the habitation area and shell middens.
- More than 700 woven baskets were recovered from the pits. Saga City explains that people are thought to have dug holes, placed acorns or similar nuts in baskets, and immersed them in water.
- The sources do not establish a single recipe, a specific water level, or the placement of one particular basket in one particular pit. The national register does describe the pit group as round and gives the approximate size range above.
- The available evidence supports storage and possible soaking or leaching. It does not describe fermentation.
Places
Higashimyo Site, Kinryu-cho, Saga City
Historical attestation · Locality evidenceReference point for OpenStreetMap archaeological-site feature 567791406, named Higashimyo Site. Locates the mapped site extent, not a separately surveyed storage pit; the feature cites Saga Prefecture's heritage record.
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Sources
Saga CityUse · Basket · History
Higashimyo Site: From Jōmon life to today and the future (東名遺跡)Saga City dates the site to about 8,000 years ago and describes preservation of wooden tools, bones and nuts.
The city says more than 700 woven baskets were found and describes the proposed use of digging holes, placing acorns or other nuts in them, and soaking them in water.
The city page explicitly presents basket use and soaking as an interpretation rather than a directly observed procedure.
Cited in: A wetland storage zone; A proposed basket-and-pit use; Storage, not established fermentation
Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties DatabaseGeography · Structure · History · Archaeology
Higashimyo Site (東名遺跡)The national registry locates the site in Saga City, Saga Prefecture and identifies it as the final phase of the Early Jōmon.
The site dates to about 7,000 years ago, approximately 8,000 years calibrated.
The lowland at roughly -2 to -3 metres contains a group of 155 storage pits.
More than 700 woven baskets were recovered from the pit group.
The detailed site description characterizes storage pits as round, approximately 1 m deep and 40–70 cm in diameter.
Cited in: A wetland storage zone; A proposed basket-and-pit use; Storage, not established fermentation
Saga CityGeography
Higashimyo Jōmon Museum (Higashimyo Site) visitor informationSaga City gives the site and museum location as Kinryu-cho, Chifu, Saga City, within the Kosegawa reservoir.
OpenStreetMap contributorsGeography
Higashimyo Site — mapped archaeological siteSite reference latitude 33.294179, longitude 130.3087272. Reference point for OpenStreetMap archaeological-site feature 567791406, named Higashimyo Site. Locates the mapped site extent, not a separately surveyed storage pit; the feature cites Saga Prefecture's heritage record.