FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Built structures · Place · Pits and cavities
At Maeda Site in Aira, southern Kyushu, a late Middle Jōmon wetland held 72 pits associated with more than 100,000 acorns. The pits were dug in a groundwater-fed valley; their use may have included storage or soaking and sorting.
Maeda Site lies south of Sumiyoshi Pond in Aira City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Excavations in 2019 and 2020 identified remains from several periods; the feature group described here belongs to the Late Middle Jōmon, about 4,500 years ago. On the western side of the settlement hill, a shallow valley held a waterlogged wetland and 72 pits associated with acorns.
The site’s wet conditions help explain why plant remains survived: Aira City reports that water seeped continually into the pits and returned within roughly a day after pumping. The Archaeological Association describes the pit group as dug into hard gray Yonemaru tephra. It reports a valley roughly 5.6–12 metres across at the upper end and about one metre deep; these are measurements of the landform, not of each pit.
More than 100,000 acorns were recovered across the wetland, with over 99% identified as Quercus gilva (Ichii-gashi). The archaeological interpretation is that acorns were stored in pits. Aira City lists possible purposes such as storage, protecting against insect damage, or floating out light insect-damaged nuts; the Archaeological Association also presents soaking and flotation as possibilities. Those functions are interpretations, not demonstrated recipes or proof that every pit was used the same way.
Fourteen woven baskets were recovered in pit contexts, and their exact role is unresolved. One reported pit, SK117, was about 98 centimetres in diameter and 22 centimetres deep; that measurement should not be treated as the standard shape for all 72 pits. The evidence describes a wetland installation rather than an enclosed fermentation vessel.
The sources do not establish a uniform profile, a lining material, a lid, the use of a basket in each pit, or a fermentation process. The waterlogged context is documented, but it is not proof that the acorns were intentionally fermented. This page keeps the site-specific storage interpretation and the proposed soaking or sorting function distinct.
The Aira City cultural-property account identifies 72 late Middle Jōmon pits in the low wetland at Maeda Site and notes waterlogged preservation of plant remains. The Japanese Archaeological Association’s report dates the group to about 4,500 years ago based on pottery and describes possible acorn storage or soaking/flotation sorting.
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Archaeological description only; the cited excavation accounts provide no construction, soil-stability, or safe-access guidance.
Aira City locates the site south of Sumiyoshi Pond; its linked map pin provides the site coordinates. This dates the pit group context, not every pit.
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Aira City Board of EducationLocation · History · Use · Environment
Maeda Site (前田遺跡)Aira City places Maeda Site on a slope south of Sumiyoshi Pond in central Aira City.
The low wetland contains 72 late Middle Jōmon pits, approximately 4,500 years old, plus acorns and woven basket remains.
Water seepage kept the plant remains waterlogged; water in the pits returned within about a day after pumping.
More than 100,000 acorns were recovered, predominantly Ichii-gashi; pits are interpreted as acorn storage, with several proposed purposes.
Cited in: A waterlogged valley of pits; Acorns, baskets, and uncertain handling; What the evidence does not show
Japanese Archaeological AssociationDimensions · Materials · Interpretation · History
2025 Maeda SiteThe association report identifies 72 pits in a groundwater-seepage valley and says the pits were cut into hard gray Yonemaru tephra.
The valley form is about 5.6–12 m wide at the upper end and about 1 m deep; one pit SK117 measured about 98 cm across by 22 cm deep.
More than 110,000 acorns were recovered, over 99% Quercus gilva; storage or soaking for flotation sorting are proposed functions.
Fourteen woven baskets were recovered, but their exact function is unclear.
Cited in: A waterlogged valley of pits; Acorns, baskets, and uncertain handling; What the evidence does not show