Hokuto Archaeological Site

The Hokuto Archaeological Site on a plateau above the Kushiro Wetlands was continuously inhabited for over 10,000 years, from around 13,000 BCE to the thirteenth century. Unlike on Honshu, where rice cultivation transformed society after 400 CE, Hokkaido's climate kept hunter-gatherer communities in place through the Satsumon period, supplementing their lifestyle with trade goods from the south. The exhibition hall displays artifacts and a full-sized model of a Satsumon-period pit dwelling. On the plateau itself, you can walk among 334 shallow depressions marking the footprints of ancient homes, and enter five reconstructed Satsumon-style dwellings.