An exhibit featured this week at Tama Center’s Jomon Village Archaeological Center reveals that the Jomon people collected shellfish mostly during the spring to summer seasons.
Exhibit at Tama Center’s Jomon Village Archaeological Center
After eating the shellfish, the empty shells would be deposited in a dumping site in a location away from the village as can be seen in the left foreground of the replica village below.
Scientists have studied the shells found in the shell mound and determined that they were gathered mostly during the spring to summer period.
Shellfish of Nishigahara She’ll Mound collected by season
How were they able to do this? They were able to do so by studying the growth line of the outer shell layers.
Here is a cross-section of the Nishigahara shellfish mound, which is essentially the remains of a large kitchen dump of the Late to Final Jomon period.
All rights reserved. Text and photos of exhibits by Heritage of Japan.