Kurihara Ruins


The Kurihara Ruins, shown on some maps as the Shirokita Central Park Kuirhara ruins, are the site of some ruins of a dwelling found in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, Japan. Today, a modern reconstruction of a pit-house stands on the site and is registered as a historic site of Nerima Ward.

History

The ruins were excavated when constructing the athletics and exercise area of Rikkyo University in 1955. The name Kurihara was that of a small administrative unit of a village that existed in the area. In a survey conducted between 1955 and 1956, stone tools made of obsidian were excavated from the red soil, and were found to be from the Paleolithic age. Also, Jōmon pottery has been excavated, showing that traces of pit living from the Yayoi to the Heian periods have been found. The reconstructed dwelling depicts a construction from around the beginning of the 8th century, the early Nara period. The reconstruction was designed by Gaijiro Fujishima, then a professor at the University of Tokyo, in 1957.

Structure

The remnants of the dwelling were dug down to a depth of 50 cm, and four pillar holes and a clay pot were identified to the north. When restoring the house, Japanese zelkova was used for the main pillar, and Japanese cedar was used for the beams and girders. The pit-house is surrounded by a metal fence and it is normally not possible to go inside.

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