Makimuku Site

The Makimuku Site (纒向遺跡, Makimuku iseki) is an archaeological site with the traces of a late-Yayoi period (2nd century) to ealy-Kofun period (4th century) settlement located at the northwest foot of Mount Miwa of the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, in the Kansai region of Japan. It was designated a National Historic Site in 2013.

Located in Ota, Tsuji, and Higashida neighborhoods of Sakurai, this large settlement was located on an alluvial fan formed by the Makimukagawa River, a tributary of the Hatsuse River. In the Tsuji area to the east, there were two artificial ditches, 5 meters wide and one meter deep, that merged midway and had a weir. In some places, the banks were protected by driving sheet piles into the ground, and in other places, water collection basins were built, and a large amount of earthenware from the early Kofun period has been excavated from the ditches. In addition to the above, there are many excellent wooden vessels such as boat-shaped and bird-shaped wooden vessels, agricultural tools, and discs with complex arc patterns. Since 1971, the Kashihara Archaeological Institute has conducted surveys and confirmed the existence of six settlements and tomb groups connected by a single water system within an area of ​​2.5 kilometers east to west and 2 kilometers north to south. There are over 40 prehistoric storage pits and linear waterways on the fringes of the settlements. The bottoms of the pits reach the spring water layer, and excavated pottery and wooden artifacts from these pits is thought to have been used in agricultural rituals, weaving tools, winnowing baskets, burnt wood, and large amounts of rice husks. some 30% of the early Kofun period remains are from other regions, such as eastern and western Tokai, Hokuriku, Sanin, the Osaka Bay coast, central and western Setouchi, and Kyushu, indicating diverse exchanges with each region. The site contains fragments of dotaku bronze bells and large number of Yayoi pottery fragments from the middle and late Yayoi periods and the remains of pit dwellings and post-hole buildings into the Asuka period. Only a small portion of the site has been excavated.

Adjacent to these two areas are the Yazuka Kofun and Ishizuka Kofun, whose moats have yielded a large amount of pottery, and the shape of the moat indicates that it is a scallop-shaped keyhole-shaped kofun measuring approximately 90 meters in length. Together with other nearby tombs, it forms the Makimuku Kofun Cluster, which and some researchers believe (together with the Hashihaka Kofun located approximately one kilometer to the south), to be linked to Yamataikoku or the "Early Yamato Government."

• List of Historic Sites of Japan (Nara)

Media related to Makimuku Site at Wikimedia Commons

• Official home page (in Japanese)