UNESCO has decided to add a group of prehistoric Jomon sites in northern Japan, which provide insight into the hunter-gatherer society and spiritual culture of that period, to its list of World Heritage Sites. World Culture.

The World Heritage Committee said the area includes 17 ancient sites across the northern main island of Hokkaido and the northeastern provinces of Aomori, Iwate and Akita. This area represents a rare way of life of prehistoric people in permanent settlements before the development of agriculture.

The sites also reflect the complex spiritual culture, including the rituals and ceremonies that the Jomon people practiced. They continued this lifestyle without switching to an agricultural culture for over 10,000 years.

These 17 archaeological sites are Japan’s 20th Cultural Heritage on the World Heritage list, after the Mozu-Furuichi Kofungun ancient mausoleum cluster in Osaka Prefecture, was recognized as the 19th Cultural Heritage in 2019. 2019. Besides, the Jomon archaeological sites also became the oldest World Heritage Site in Japan among the country’s 25 listed sites, including 20 cultural heritage sites and 5 natural heritage sites.

Among the five natural heritage sites, the 43,000 hectare tropical rainforest in southwestern Japan stretches across Amami-Oshima Island and Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, the northern part of the main Okinawa island and Iriomote Island in Okinawa Prefecture, was newly registered on 25 July 2021. The Commission said the value of the area lies in its biodiversity, with a very high proportion of endemic species, many of which are at threatened globally.

The 17 Jomon archaeological sites include two of the country’s distinctive historical sites: the Sannai Maruyama Ruins in Aomori, a major settlement around 3900 to 2200 BC, and the Oyu stone circles in the north Akita prefecture dates back to about 2000 to 1500 BC.

The remaining 15 sites include the Goshono site in Iwate Prefecture, where burnt animal bones and clay objects believed to have been used for rituals were found, as well as the Ofune site in Hakodate, Hokkaido, where the remains of houses and a large number of relics have been excavated.

During a meeting on the Jomon World Heritage Site, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOS, an advisory group to UNESCO, said the sites “represent ways of life that have existed since ago – intensive agriculture and a complex spiritual culture of prehistoric peoples about 15,000 years ago.

If you have the opportunity to come to Japan, try to learn about these 17 archaeological sites!