28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Jomon Ruins Adding to UNESCO World Heritage List

An international advisory panel has recommended that a group of ruins from the ancient Jomon period in northern Japan is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage cultural site, according to officials from Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs on Wednesday.

 Based on the recommendation by the International Council on Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOS, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is expected to decide the registration at an online meeting in July.

The Jomon archaeological sites in the Hokkaido and northern Tohoku regions would be Japan’s 20th cultural property on the World Heritage list, after the Mozu-Furuichi Kofungun ancient tumulus clusters in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, were inscribed in 2019.


The Jomon ruins are 17 sites in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and the northeastern prefectures of Aomori, Iwate and Akita, comprising settlement ruins, stone circles, and a cemetery.


 They include the Sannai-Maruyama site in the city of Aomori, the Oyu Kanjo Resseki site in Kazuno, Akita, the Kitakogane Kaizuka shell mound in Date, Hokkaido, and the Goshono site in Ichinohe, Iwate.

The Sannai-Maruyama site

What is the Jomon Culture?

The Jomon culture emerged around 15,000 years ago and was characterized by the use of pottery throughout the Japanese Archipelago, including Hokkaido.

Aside from pottery, the Jomons used a variety of tools. Many tools were invented, including chipped stone axes, bows and arrows, fish hooks, and harpoons, and hunting and fishing techniques were refined. Instead of the nomadic lifestyle they had prior to the Paleolithic culture, the Jomon people built pit dwellings by digging holes in the ground and settled down.

 The Oyu Kanjo Resseki site

The Jomon culture has long been regarded as a unique culture centered on hunting, fishing, and gathering that has lasted over 15,000 years.

In the Jomon culture, authentic agriculture was not practiced, and people settled in one location while hunting, fishing, and gathering, as well as conserving nature. There are no traces of battles, such as moats and shields surrounding village communities, and it was known that the people cared for the elderly and children, resulting in a stable society. The Jomon culture had continued approximately 10,000 years, the only culture to have continued as long in the world.

The Jomon culture, which spread across the Japanese Archipelago, was not a “delayed” culture with no agriculture, but rather a “mature” culture that included the development of hunting, fishing, and gathering habits in harmony with nature.

Source: JIJI PRESS

Related Articles

The mythical hero of Troy and Rome Aeneas’s peerless mosaic discovered in Türkiye

11 May 2023

11 May 2023

A large mosaic depicting the legendary Trojan hero Aeneas, the protagonist of Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid” and the ancestor...

Dacian Treasure Discovered in Romania, Possibly Indicating a Hidden Settlement in Breaza

12 April 2025

12 April 2025

In the spring of 2025, an extraordinary archaeological discovery was made in the Breaza commune of Mureș County, Romania, when...

Ancient ceremonial chariot found in Pompeii

27 February 2021

27 February 2021

The Archaeological Park announced that a gorgeous Roman chariot was found “almost intact” near Pompeii, where it was buried, calling...

The 2000-year-old origin mystery of the Etruscans solved

25 September 2021

25 September 2021

A genetic analysis of DNA taken from ancient skeletons appears to have answered a conundrum that has captivated researchers for...

Archaeologists uncovered a kurgan tomb from a previously unknown culture

8 January 2023

8 January 2023

Archaeologists from the Siberian Federal University have unearthed a kurgan tomb and numerous bronze tools and artifacts from a previously...

An Urartian fortress was discovered at an altitude of 3,300 meters in eastern Turkey

2 July 2022

2 July 2022

In the Gürpınar district of Van, located in eastern Turkey, a fortress ruin, which is considered to be used by...

An unexpected discovery in Pompeii: A Roman Tomb Reveals the Existence of an Unknown Imperial Position in Hispania

17 July 2024

17 July 2024

Work to create a functional air chamber to evacuate moisture from the underground spaces of the San Paolino building, the...

Over 7,000-Year-Old Traces of Life Discovered in Ratina Cave on Šćedro Island, Croatia

28 February 2025

28 February 2025

Recent archaeological excavations on Šćedro Island, located south of Hvar, have unveiled significant findings that challenge previous understandings of the...

A Mysterious 1,800-year-old Roman Statue Unearthed During Car Park Construction Work in UK

13 March 2024

13 March 2024

A 1,800-year-old Roman marble statue of a woman’s head was discovered during construction in the parking lot of Burghley House...

A princely tomb discovered in the infrastructure project of the A7 Ploieşti-Buzău highway in Romania

20 December 2022

20 December 2022

An impressive archaeological discovery took place on the Ploiești-Buzău section of the Moldova Highway. The excavations uncovered a princely tomb,...

2,000-year-old unique luxury Roman villa with “underfloor heating” found in Germany

3 November 2022

3 November 2022

A luxury Roman villa with a thermal bath and underfloor heating has been unearthed in Kempten, Bavaria, one of the...

An Elite Nubian Woman’s Burial, Dating Back 4,000 Years, Reveals the Oldest Evidence of Tumpline Use

15 April 2025

15 April 2025

A recent study analyzing 30 ancient skeletons from the Abu Fatima cemetery in Nubia, Sudan, has revealed that women in...

With the withdrawal of Lake Van, the Urartian road to Çarpanak Island emerged

18 May 2022

18 May 2022

In Lake Van in eastern Turkey, the water level fell due to global warming, and a one-kilometer Urartian road connecting...

A 42,000-year-old pendant found in northern Mongolia may be the earliest known phallic art

20 June 2023

20 June 2023

An international team of researchers has found a pendant in northern Mongolia that may be the earliest known example of...

Gladiators were mostly Vegetarians and they were fatter than you may think

6 August 2023

6 August 2023

What better epitomizes the ideal male physique than the Roman gladiator? Gladiators were the movie stars of the first century,...