Mastodawn

Alexandra Jun 12, 2025

The #EuropeanArchaeologyDays at last !
Since I’m a sad #archaeologist trapped in an office today, I’ll send photographs of past surveys in the northern #Yanbaru woods. And since it’s friday, it will count as #FootPathFriday as well !
This is from a survey in february 2020, probably the most productive we ever had in Yanbaru. Since I’m a contractor, I am not allowed to give the exact location and I wiped the photograph properties.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa @archaeodons

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

This one is more recognizable as a path I’d say, it’s practically a highway. There are many types of paths in Yanbaru, mainly slope paths with the hill-side of the path cut to create a vertical wall, as in the two photos I just posted, and ridge paths. Ridge paths are more difficult to identify since there is no cut slope and some are very invaded by vegetation. You feel it in your feet, the ground is different where there used to be a path.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootPathFriday

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

We also have horse paths, recognisable because the hooves of the horses gradually dug the path, so that now, they look like ditches, sometimes with walls more than 1.5 m high.
The one in this photograph is just another slope path. Before clearing, but it is not too much invaded by vegetation, a lucky path ♡ You can see a second cut slope below the path on the left : that’s the start of terraced fields that go down the valley.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootPathFriday

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

We also walk a lot in the stream beds. In fact, we generally start by walking in the stream beds and look for paths that go up from the stream bed. The easiest way to find a path in Yanbaru. Moreover, ancient people used to do the same (use the stream beds as path) so that you can find quite a lot of archaeological vestiges along the streams before you even find a path. Charcoal kilns. Lots of charcoal kilns.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootPathFriday

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

Another slope path, after clearing, quite weathered. As you can see the hills in Yanbaru might not be very high, but they are very steep, we’re always very happy to find an old path. Not only because archaeological remains concentrate along old paths, but also just because it eases the progression so much. There is much difference between cutting your way in the vegetation in the wild and cutting your way in the vegetation on an ancient path…
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootpathFriday

OK, that’s not a path, that’s a stream. But you can’t make a thread about a Yanbaru survey without putting one or two photographs of gorgeous streams, whether it is Footpath Friday or not. Moreover, it answers the question “why the hell would you walk in a stream ?” : as you can see, absolutely no vegetation to clear to be able to progress ! You can just walk and look for historical remains while appreciating the landscape.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

Another survey, even older, february 2018, where we had horse paths ! Lots of them. Please appreciate this first one, that is not very deep indeed, but whose symmetry is vaguely satisfying. As you can see this is a ridge path, but instead of being flat, the repeated passage of horses (to carry bamboo and firewood) has dug it, giving it a nice U shape (it’s currently being filled a bit by almost 80 years of forest deposits…)
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootpathFriday

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

This is another ridge path, same area, no horse, for comparison. Very well conserved, probably used until more recently. Most of Yanbaru’s paths have been used till WWII. Then the US put their jungle warfare training thing there and access was denied. Also, Okinawa’s population drastically decreased with the war so people just concentrated on the good valley fields on the coast and even the parts that were outside the fences were abandoned.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootpathFriday

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

Another horse path, please appreciate the height of the walls. Or maybe their depth, since they were dug...A lot of the paths were cut after the Japanese annexation, at the end of the 19th century : the Ryūkyū Kingdom was really strict about access to Yanbaru. But even limited, there was access and so, necessarily, paths. I mean we found paths with the kingdom’s landsurvey markers along them, so obviously, some date back to the kingdom.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootpathFriday

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

In fact when the horse paths became too deep, they made another one 1 metre on the right or the left. Generally there is a human footpath just next to the horse paths (on top of it you would say) because that’s not easy to pass a horse going the opposite way on such narrow paths, so humans would better walk elsewhere. So you can find two horse paths (different depth) + one human path going the same way. Yanbaru’s highways.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootpathFriday

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

Ah, bamboo! Another plant you’ll learn to hate really quickly when surveying Yanbaru… They invade the ridge paths like the ferns. Of course they don’t look terrible in this picture. When they are terrible, I’m too busy cutting my way through to take any pictur And they cut holes in your waterproof boots! All things considered, ridge paths are quite a bit of hell, better stick in the valley and walk the streams.If your boots are still all right.
#EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025 #Okinawa #FootpathFriday

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

Another nice path of Yanbaru. I think this will conclude this collaborative thread #FootpathFriday / #EADays #JEArchéo #JEA2025. I have more photographs of Yanbaru paths of course, but I fear I am becoming a little bit redundant… There are some parts of Yanbaru easily accessible to the public (even children) for instance in the park around Nangusuku (Nago Gusuku). They even have charcoal kilns ! I’d recommend to wait for november though, when the habu season is over.

Janne Moren Jun 13, 2025

@berangere444
How do you handle habu? Rubber boots, a stick and looking carefully?

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

@jannem
i'd like to think i do not handle them at all 😣
we're supposed to only enter yanbaru from december to march, but with the delays on the contractor's side to obtain entry permits and all, we're often there until april or even may… i wear long boots, stomp my feet while i walk, and am really good at spotting snakes when everyone else just passes by. unfortunately, when it happens i'm so frightened i can't speak so i grab the person closest to the snake and run…

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

@jannem
…then other members of the team that i consider completely insane come and look at the snake, and use their machete or other tool to throw it away…
we mostly encounter hime-habu, and everyone is 「it's allright it's not deadly」but all i can think is that i really do not want to walk the 5 kilometers of mountain back with a snake bite, deadly or not.
i also always carry a 「habu knock」spray, even though i'm not sure it would be really useful in the mountain…

Alexandra Jun 13, 2025

@jannem
…we're also at least three in one team (generally more) : one who gets bitten, one who stays with the one who got bitten, and one who runs to a place with phone reception to call help (and say what ? 「come, we're in the middle of yanbaru, i hope you're good at finding path」 ?)
it is incredibly surprising how bad people are at spotting snakes, even when you point at them saying 「there, there inside the leaves」. i'm very good at snakes and wild boars.

Janne Moren Jun 13, 2025

@berangere444
Braver than me then. I'm scared enough of them that I won't go anywhere like that. Happy to live vicariously through other people's pictures.