🏛️ Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
17 UNESCO World Heritage sites spanning Hokkaido and northern Tohoku
📋 Fast Facts
- 17 component archaeological sites across Hokkaido and northern Tohoku regions
- Spans the Jōmon period: approximately 10,500 BCE to 300 BCE
- UNESCO World Heritage inscription: 2021
- Represents a pre-agricultural hunter-gatherer society with complex spiritual and ceremonial practices
The Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan comprise 17 archaeological sites inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021. These sites are distributed across Hokkaido and the northern Tohoku regions, collectively offering evidence of the Jōmon period—a prehistoric era spanning approximately 10,500 BCE to 300 BCE. The sites reveal the material culture, settlement patterns, and spiritual beliefs of a sophisticated pre-agricultural hunter-gatherer society that flourished for over ...