Kochi Prefecture
Itoku Ruins, Tosa
A late Jomon site-cluster with waterlogged clay, wood and other artefacts. Link here is to a stunning image of reconstructed laquerware dated to 2,800 BP (reconstruction by National Museum of Japanese History, Chiba). Excavation (on route of the Kochi Expressway) was managed by the Kochi Prefectural Center of Cultural Properties. Wooden hoes found here may have been used in farming before the Yayoi Period introduction of rice culture to Japan from continental Asia. Human bones bear evidence of attack in battle.
See reports in the Japan Times, January 21, 1999, and Japan Times, March 27, 1999, and Yomiuri Shimbun, March 21, 2002.