FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Built structures · Place · Pits and cavities
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.
At Sannai Maruyama, a settlement in Aomori, storage pits were dug outside the residential area at the edges of flat ground. Some of the excavated features have a flask-like outline: a small opening leads to a much broader floor. The site interprets them as places for storing nuts or chestnuts, although that is a probable function rather than a statement about every pit's contents.
The largest pits reach about two metres deep. The official description does not give their mouth width, floor diameter, lining, cover, or exact excavation sequence. The profile matters because a narrow opening sits above a larger storage space, but the available account does not specify how people accessed or closed each example.
These features belong to a settlement with a long Jōmon occupation and substantial plant use. The site profile describes the broader settlement chronology as approximately 3900–2200 BCE; that range should not be mistaken for a precise date on an individual pit. The storage-pit page itself presents the nut or chestnut interpretation as probable.
The excavated form supports a dug storage structure, not a fermentation vessel. The sources inspected do not document fermentation, a moisture-control system, a lining material, or a standard preservation method. The narrow-mouth, broad-floor form is reported for some pits, so it should not be imposed on every underground feature at the site.
The official page includes a photograph of a pit during excavation, which supports the archaeological subject but does not show a complete reconstructed fill or closure. A more detailed cutaway would need evidence for the unseen floor contents, lining and sealing; those details are not specified in the inspected account. This record therefore describes only the supported profile and probable storage use.
The Sannai Maruyama site's official account identifies flask-shaped storage pits with a narrow opening and large floor, interpreted as nut or chestnut stores. Individual pits are not separately dated in that account.
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UNESCO reference point for component 1632-007, Sannai Maruyama Site. Locates the 23.5 ha archaeological site, not a separately surveyed individual storage pit.
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Sannai Maruyama Jomon Culture Center, Aomori PrefectureForm · Location · Use · Dimensions
Storage pitsThe official site places storage pits outside the settlement, at the edges of a flat area.
Some pits have a flask-shaped profile with a small opening and large floor area; the official interpretation is that they likely stored nuts or chestnuts.
The larger pits reach approximately 2 metres deep; the source does not supply a standard diameter, lining or closure.
The webpage includes a photograph captioned as a storage pit at excavation; the page footer states all rights reserved.
Cited in: A narrow entrance above a broad store; Storage evidence, not fermentation; Limits of reconstruction
World Heritage Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern JapanGeography · History
Sannai Maruyama SiteThe official site profile locates Sannai Maruyama in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
Its period description gives the Special Historic Site range as approximately 3900–2200 BCE; this dates the settlement context, not each storage pit.
Cited in: Storage evidence, not fermentation
UNESCO World Heritage CentreGeography
Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan — mapsSite reference latitude 40.81027777777778, longitude 140.6988888888889. UNESCO reference point for component 1632-007, Sannai Maruyama Site. Locates the 23.5 ha archaeological site, not a separately surveyed individual storage pit.