Sannai Maruyama Ruins, an ancient ruin from the Jomon period in Aomori Prefecture

Sannai Maruyama Ruins is an ancient ruin located in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture.
It is believed that it existed for more than a thousand years, from the early Jomon period to the end of the middle Jomon period.

Japan's largest ancient ruins

Photo by yisris – The Sannai-Maruyama Site, a huge site of stone age village / Size-adapted.

The Sannai Maruyama ruins are built on a hill on the river terrace of the Okitate River, and the total area is about 35 hectares, making it one of the largest in Japan. It has been designated as a special historic site.

It has been known since the Edo period that there are ruins at this location, and Masumi Sugae, who traveled around the Tohoku region and other countries, wrote in his travelogues about the excavation of clay figurines.
In the Showa era, Aomori Prefecture began planning to build a prefectural baseball field at this location, and a survey was conducted to find buried cultural properties in advance.
As a result, it became clear that the site was the remains of a large-scale settlement from the Jomon period, so the construction plan was canceled and a decision was made to preserve and utilize the site.

At the Sannai-Maruyama ruins, remains of large-scale dug-out pillar buildings, pit-style dwellings, raised-floor warehouses, storage pits, and earthen pit graves from the Jomon period have been found, and these were connected by roads and were built in a well-planned manner. It appears that it was placed in .
In particular, the large pit-style dwelling at the center of the Sannai-Maruyama ruins is huge, over 30 meters long, although there are various theories about its purpose. It has been restored and you can now see up close what it looked like back then.
It turns out that there was a large six-pillar building next to it, which is thought to have been erected with pillars about 2 meters in diameter, and its grandeur has also been restored.
A large number of other pottery, clay figurines, and wooden products have also been excavated from the Sannai-Maruyama Ruins, and these artifacts are displayed in the entrance facility and can be viewed at any time.
This entrance facility is popular as one of Aomori Prefecture's tourist facilities, and includes a museum, a large theater, an experience workshop, a restaurant, and a souvenir shop.

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