Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/49268

The author has carried out archaeological excavations at the Fugusawa site, Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture since 2003. Thus far, the authors have discovered at least seven semi-subterranean residences, and completed the excavations of four semi-subterranean residences that are dated to the early stage of the Yayoi period (ca. the 4th century B.C.E. to the 3rd century B.C.E.). This paper reports the preliminary results of excavations that took place in 2011. The purpose of the 2011 campaign is to grasp the plan and the size of the semi-subterranean residence No.5. As a result of the excavation, the shape of semi-subterranean residence No.5 is oval, and its long axis is estimated to be longer than 8m. Hearth and grooves along the wall of the residence could not be detected. We found pottery fragments that were dated to the end of the Jomon period to the beginning of the Yayoi period, and the residence was also estimated to have been constructed during the period. Lithic use-wear analysis revealed that there was an informal flake used for wood-working. Five polygonum seeds are recovered by the water-flotation technique of the sediment collected in the deposit of the semi-subterranean No.5. We will continue our examinations of the formation process of the Fugusawa settlement.