Odai Yamamoto I Site
Odai-Yamamoto I · Ōdai Yamamoto
Incipient Jomon (15000–10000 BCE) → Initial Jomon (10000–6000 BCE)·Incipient–Initial Jomon (Tsugaru)·🇯🇵 Aomori Prefecture, Sotogahama Town, Kanita district (Mutsu Bay upper, Tsugaru Peninsula east), Japan
About
About Odai Yamamoto I Site
Initial Jomon (Incipient) settlement (c.15000–13000 BCE) at Sotogahama, Tsugaru Peninsula — 0.7 ha terrace with earliest pottery in Japan (Odai Yamamoto I pottery, 16500 cal BP via AMS), ground stone, and pit hearths. Excavated 1998–2001, this is the oldest Jomon site in the serial, pushing Japanese pottery origin to 15000 BCE (earliest in world alongside Xianrendong), with plain and fiber-tempered sherds associated with microblades. UNESCO Jomon Prehistoric Sites (1632-001), anchor for Jomon chronology.
Why it mattersEarliest pottery in Japan (15000 BCE) — world-oldest alongside Yuchanyan; anchor for Jomon–Pleistocene transition.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Was pottery invented at Odai Yamamoto or diffused from Amur?
Theories
- 01Incipient Jomon pottery for nut processing at Mutsu Bay oak forest
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.15000–13000 BCE (Incipient Jomon, Odai Yamamoto I pottery)
- Period
- Incipient Jomon (15000–10000 BCE) → Initial Jomon (10000–6000 BCE)
- Culture
- Incipient–Initial Jomon (Tsugaru)
- Builders
- Late Pleistocene foragers (incipient Jomon)
- Purpose
- Earliest pottery-using seasonal camp at Mutsu Bay ecotone
- Abandoned
- c.13000 BCE (reoccupied Initial Jomon)
- Rediscovered
- 1975 discovery; 1998–2001 excavation and AMS 16500 cal BP
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.15000 BCE
Incipient Jomon pottery (plain, fiber-tempered) made — oldest Japan
c.13000 BCE
Microblade and pottery horizon at terrace
2021
UNESCO Jomon Prehistoric Sites 1632-001 inscription
On the ground
Structures & features
41.0656° N · 140.5533° E · 25 m · 2 mapped features
Pottery scatter layer
ceramic scatterIncipient pottery 400+ sherds 16500 cal BP plain and fiber-tempered
41.0657° N · 140.5532° EPit hearth cluster
hearthPit hearths 2 m dia. with microblades and ground stone
41.0654° N · 140.5535° E
Gallery