Friday, January 08, 2010

Sannai-Maruyama Ruins

Today we ventured back to Aomori and visited the Joman remains at Sannai-Maruyama.
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
"For a period of over 1,500 years lasting from roughly 5,500 years ago to 4,000 years ago, there was a large scale Joman settlement at the current Sannai-Maruyama Site in Aomori City. The remains of over 550 Jomon period pit dwellings have been surveyed at the site so far. Remains have also been found of both an extremely large pit dwelling and a large structure built using pillars a meter in diameter. " This site is important as excavations have overturned long-held theories about the Joman lifestyle and technological skill. This is the largest such site in Japan.

This was very interesting. Everything was free. There is a nice museum, the site itself, a large picnic area (currently under snow), and an exhibit of things that have been excavated. In looking at the brochure I see that we barely scratched the surface of all we could have done. We plan to go back in the summer. Many of the "pits" were covered in snow. There was a LOT more snow in Aomori than there is down here.

From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
English tour guides are available. They do have brochures with a bit of info in English. There is a 6 min video you can watch. We didn't. There are headsets that translate the video to English for rent. We planned to do it after we explored the sites...but by then we were ready to head home.

SOME of the many photos we took:
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
I am learning that one doesn't HAVE to stay housebound, if one learns to drive in this stuff. Better do that before Mike leaves in Feb. This makes one contemplate how COLD it must have been. WE think the homes here are poorly insulated now. ::snort::
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
Some dwellings were not meant for climbing inside, some were.
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
DUCK! ::snort::
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
Loved the roof decorations
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
No entry but the hole in the floor.
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
Zander HAD to taste the snow and the water dripping off the dwelling. "It taste's like bamboo!" ::grin::
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
Longhouse
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
Work in progress.
Stacia liked the Jewelry Exhibit
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
Jade Bead
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
Another Bead/evidently clunky was in
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
Ear Plugs
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
From 2010-01-08 Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
For locals...GPS coordinates are N40* 48.51 E 140* 41.743.You can see directions here....I a map to go with these directions (google if this doesn't link). Toll is Y830 each way.

JOSIAH & JAMIN ARE HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

6 comments:

Cynthia said...

How long does winter last over in those parts?

Anonymous said...

HI:

WOW! How interesting! Loved that huge jade bead. AND loved the stumps used to make steps into that one place. What was that tall thing with posts and 3 layers of what looks like bamboo beds or matts or whatever? Glad you are all getting around a bit.
love/prayers --- Mom T

Michelle said...

Very neat! Can't wait to see what adventures you'll have this summer. :)

Herding Grasshoppers said...

I love all the pics and info you give about the places you've visited, as well as the cultural stuff you're learning.

However, my sleepy brain looked at the title of the post and read, "Sanni-Marijuana Ruins." Huh?

Julie

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Not sure Cindy. I did hear they had an Easter storm last year.

Anonymous said...

that dark black road so clean going into the mountain view is beautiful. love/prayers --- mom t.