Yoshinogari site

Yoshinogari is located 12 km from the Ariake Sea on a low hill that extends out of the Sefuri Mountains and is surrounded on three sides by land that is suitable for wet-rice (paddy) cultivation.

The earliest component of the Yoshinogari settlement formed at the southern end of the low hill extending out from the Sefuri Mountains.

An area of the Middle Yayoi settlement seems to have been dedicated to the casting of bronze implements due to the number of moulds which were found.

[1] A large outer ditch was built around the edges of the low hill, completely surrounding the settlement and cemetery areas.

Inside of the outer ditch, smaller ditch-enclosed precincts were built that surrounded groups of pit-houses and raised-floor buildings.

The discovery and subsequent excavation of Yoshinogari caused a sustained sensation in the Japanese media in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The attention given to this site soon centred upon intense speculation that Yoshinogari could have been the capital of Yamatai, a polity mentioned in Chinese historical texts such as Weizhi and Houhanshu.

Whole view of the Yoshinogari site
Reconstructed dwellings.
Northern Enclosure showing reconstructed Late Yayoi raised-floor buildings, ditches, and palisades at Yoshinogari
Reconstructed Yayoi raised-floor building (watchtower?), Yoshinogari