AlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT #OkiMaibun
i'm at #okinawa prefectural archaeological centre for the annual conference about the archaeological excavations they conducted the previous year. this year the conference is about the vestiges of wakuta village in naha and the matsuzaki hippodrome, also in naha. the related exhibition includes the survey of ōyamatakinsakūbaru 1 site, but it's not in the conf. there is a gallery talk afterwards, but i won't be live-tooting it since i can't type while standing…😓
#archaeology
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT the related exhibition is free, with a free 21 pages long exhibition pamphlet in colour, that you can have for free if you come to the free exhibition. did i mention it was free ?
also, they allow photographs.
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT the site of #wakuta is located in the centre of #naha, below the prefectural office, the village was destroyed during the war (ww2) and it's been excavated slowly for years. that's the place where #stoneware production started in the 17th century before it spread to other places all over the island to be finally grouped in #tsuboya by royal decree afterwards.
my company was involved in this excavation campaign but i was busy with other projects and only went and saw once at the …
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
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…beginning when they had exposed the war-destroyed levels (ashes and burnt stones, explosion craters…)
the kindai (modern) village remains peaked below the ashes.
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
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and the conference starts.
it is the 103th conf organised by the centre. they're all free and very accessible, you should come.
the first commis is by kinjō tsubasa about wakuta. wakuta is currently is izumizaki in naha and naha board of education has conducted 3 surveys there.
this time they dug behind the prefectural office before the construction of a new building. they made 2 test pits, found vestiges so, conducted large-scale excavations.
kinjō starts with the war related …
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT …layers and the modern damages. there is a layer of allogenous earth, a layer of ashes, the wakuta village layer and another layer of allogenous earth.
most important remains are a water drain, and three remains areas.
the water drain is very nice, the walls are cut stones in limestone, with a road on top on the side. that's very well conserved (ok, a bit cut by a recent water drain) but not very old. there are secondary drains that verse in the main one.
remains area 1 ! →
Show threadAlexandra
#RyukyuLT →remains of building, stone pavement, ditch and pits filled with ceramic (war period)
remains area 2 remains
of a gravel path bordered by 2 ditches and also a stone lined pit with ceramic inside (again, war period). the pit is lined with mortar on top of the stone lining.
remains area 4 (there's no 3) a large area with plenty of roof tiles. the tiles were taken off and the remains below are very different from the other areas → remains of garden, small kiln with still a …
Feb 8 at 5:20amWeb
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT large metallic pot on top.
lots of remains of the war period in the garden.
→ the war layers were very well conserved and talked of the intensity of the destruction in naha.
→ in area 1 and 2 the artefacts were numerous and included religious artefacts, while the ones in area 4 are more of a domestic / craftmanship type.
below, there is allogenous earth brought here in the 17th c. when building the village.
second comm by hanashiro himeko about matsuzaki-baba
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
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baba means hippodrome, it is in shuri north of shuri castle. you can see it on 18th c. maps, but there's no name, just a grove of pines. it is just west of the sukumichi that comes from shuri and goes north (to kunigami)
in the 19th c. they organised boat races on the ryutan pond to entertain the chinese ambassadors and the stage to watch was on matsuzaki-baba.
it's just a large, flat area so, can be used for many purposes. after the fall of the kingdom, the japanese built a school on…
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT it. now, it's in the arts university.
they opened 4 trenches and found stone pavements in trench 1, the stone pavements are above the first remains of a path, probably the first sukumichi. →gravel ishigū) sukumichi, with 10-20 cm limestone stones below as a base.
then, on top of that, the stone pavements.
stone pavements in trench 2 too, same level so probably same pavement,
width 2.5 m
date kinsei-kindai (early modern to modern)
places damaged were further dug to see below and
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT found gusuku period-kinsei earth.
trench 3, alined stones, 14-15th c. chinese celadon inside, so possibly from gusuku period.
many layers of allogenous earth.
covered ditch, lined with cut limestone and covered with cut limestone. inside kindai japanese porcelain → used until kindai.
remains of sukumichi as well in trench 3 (no pavement above) but cut by recent concrete ditch…
bits of retaining wall and foundation stones, probably pre-war school.
trench 4 : sukumichi
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT 1111 year chinese coin.
area paved with small limestone cobbles, with shells and more chinese coins.
also concrete remains = pre-war school. incl a concrete squared pond with 2 pipes going there (drain)
also war bullet holes in the concrete remains.
end of second comm.
questions !
person living near ufu nu ufuya where there is a place called wakuta shrine, is it related ?
they don't know but will search and contact the person
about matsuzaki-baba, will there be testing on the
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLTsouth of ryutan pond ? not yet planned
again matsuzaki-baba, the sukumichi goes to urasoe, it is said that sho nei paved this road, is the pavement this sho nei pavement ? they don't know yet, the artefacts seem to say kinsei and kindai but not all analysed yet
matsuzaki-baba again, how deep are the remains
about 1 m below current ground level.
the kanji for wakuta, there are two types used, which is the oldest ?
in the kyuyo it is 湧 as nowadays but on about same period other docs
Show threadAlexandraFeb 8
#RyukyuLT it's other kanjis so you can't say one is really older, both were used at same time.
end of conference !