Takasago Burial Site
Takasago Cemetery · Takasago Iseki
Late to Final Jomon 1800–400 BCE·Late–Final Jomon (southwestern Hokkaido)·🇯🇵 Hokkaido, Toyako Town, Abuta District (Lake Toya southern rim), Japan
About
About Takasago Burial Site
Late–Final Jomon collective cemetery (c.1800–400 BCE) adjoining Irie Site at Lake Toya, Toyako, Hokkaido — paired with Irie as single property Irie–Takasago (UNESCO 1632 dual). Takasago is the burial zone: 150+ pit graves with earthwork burial circles (shuteibo) 5–8 m diameter, red-ochre child burials, and lacquered wooden grave markers. Excavated 1920s–2000s, the Irie–Takasago pair illustrates Jomon settlement (Irie) + cemetery (Takasago) zoning, with hunter-gatherer social memory marked by persistent burial mound reuse over 1400 years.
Why it mattersPaired settlement–cemetery Jomon zoning (Irie = settlement, Takasago = cemetery) — only Hokkaido dual-property demonstrating Jomon social zoning.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why separate cemetery 200 m from Irie settlement — purity zoning?
Theories
- 01Persistent place burial memory; earthwork as lineage marker
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.1800 BCE Late Jomon; continuous to 400 BCE
- Period
- Late to Final Jomon 1800–400 BCE
- Culture
- Late–Final Jomon (southwestern Hokkaido)
- Builders
- Jomon Toya communities
- Purpose
- Collective earthwork burial-circle cemetery for lakeside villages
- Abandoned
- c.400 BCE (Yayoi start)
- Rediscovered
- 1920s excavation; 1975–2005 systematic by Toyako Board
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1800 BCE
First shuteibo earthwork burial circles dug
c.1400–400 BCE
150+ pit graves with red-ochre and lacquer markers
2021
UNESCO Irie–Takasago joint inscription 1632
On the ground
Structures & features
42.5383° N · 140.7967° E · 85 m · 2 mapped features
Shuteibo earthwork circles
earthwork20+ donut earthworks 5–8 m dia. with ochre pit graves beneath
42.5385° N · 140.7965° ELacquered grave marker cluster
cemeteryPits with lacquered wooden board covers and red ochre
42.5380° N · 140.7970° E
Gallery