Designated Historic Site

Kiusu Earthwork
Burial Circles

Earthwork Burial Circle No.1 and display of graves (photographed in 2020)

What are the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles?
Earthwork Burial Circles
Area of the Designated Historic Site (2019)

No.14
No.6
No.3
No.1
No.4
No.2
No.11
No.5

No.12

Area of the Designated Historic Site Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles

0

100m

What Are Earthwork Burial Circles?
Near the end of the Jomon Period (latter half of the Late Jomon
period (approx. 3,200 years ago)), unique communal graves werebuilt in Hokkaido. Known as“Earthwork Burial Circles”, thesesites were created by digging large circular holes (pits) in the
ground and then using the dug-up soil to build an embankment(earthwork) around the edge of the pit, with between one andseveral tens of graves located on the embankment and inside thepit.
Except for a few earthwork burial circles located in Eastern
Hokkaido and present-day Ashibetsu City, construction of the
majority of these communal graves has been concentrated in theGraves (shown in darkbrown) were dug inthe depression (pit)left after the yellow
section was
dug up, andthe bodies of
deceased person
were buried inthese graves.

southern area of the Ishikari Lowland in present-day Eniwa City,
Chitose City, and Tomakomai City.
In general, earthwork burial circles usually measure between 10 m
and 30 m in diameter. However, a major characteristic of the Kiusu
Earthwork Burial Circles are that they comprise a cluster of large
burial circles measuring more than 70 m in diameter.
Furthermore, the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles have tremendous
archeological value because their outline is visible from groundlevel. They were designated as a national historic site in 1979, andthe designated area was expanded from 4.9 ha to 10.9 ha in 2019.

Embankment(earthwork)

Cross-section
position

Sections where
the embankment is low arethought to havebeen the burial
circle’s entrance
and exit.
Embankment(earthwork)

Embankment(earthwork)

Cross-section of Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circle No. 2 (1965)

3m Embankment
20m

2m
Grave

Grave

Structure of Earthwork Burial Circles

1:50,000 topographic maps issued by the Land Surveying Department, the Empire of Japan“Izair”(issued in 1920) and“Oiwake”(issued in 1921) were added.

Maoi
Marsh

“Kiusu” is Ainu
language area name
Ainu place and area names

Maoi Hills

express the characteristics

Chitose Riverof that particular locality.

Osatsu MarshIn Hokkaido, there remain
many place and area namesthat retain the original Ainu
language pronunciation. The
name“Kiusu”is thought toKiusu Earthwork
Burial Circles

derive from the Ainu word
“ki ushi”(meaning“reed/clustered together”).

Kiusu 4 Site

The landscape at that time
probably comprised fieldsof miscanthus grass spreadout around marshes andMarukoyama Sitewetlands.

0

1

2km

Map of the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles and the Surrounding Area during the Taisho Period (1912–1926) (Sites are marked with green dots [●])

Topography and Historic Sites of the Kiusu Area
activity (sites) dating from the Paleolithic Period onwards havebeen discovered. Moreover, earthwork burial circles have also been
discovered at the Kiusu 4 site, located at the Expressway ChitoseHigashi Interchange, as well as the Marukoyama site located 2.4 km
to the southwest, and archaeological excavations are being carriedout at these sites.

The Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles were constructed on gentle
slope at an elevation of 15 m to 21 m around the foot of the Maoi
Hills in the southeastern part of the Ishikari Lowland. In the past,
the plateau was surrounded by vast wetlands, with the Osatsu
Marsh and Maoi Marsh spreading as far as the eye could see.
Today, there marshlands have been reclaimed, and virtually nolake, marshes, or wetlands remain.
Around the foot of the Maoi Hills, many relics of human life andEarthwork Burial Circles Research Today
Earthwork Burial Circles have long drawn researchers’interest. While
research in this field is ongoing, the following are theories regarding theorigins of earthwork burial circles.
It has been pointed out that earthwork burial circles derive from“Stone
Circles”that were constructed in Northern Tohoku and Hokkaido at the
beginning of the Late Jomon period. Stone circles were large memorials in which pebbles were laid out in circles, and they closely resemble
earthwork burial circles in that graves and ritual relics have been foundat the sites. However, there is no clear continuity between the periods
in which the two were constructed, no clear overlap in their areas of
distribution, and differences in the locations where the sites tended to beconstructed, and so it has also been pointed out that no direct genealogi-

cal relationship has been identified. There are also various other theories
about the origins of earthwork burial circles, including that earthwork
burial circles are based on dugout dwellings; that they emerged due tothe influence of communal graves; and that they began being built as
a form of joint labor to strengthen ties (unity) among people living inthe same village or area as population density increased as the climate
cooled.
Later, in the Final Jomon Period, people suddenly stopped building
earthwork burial circles. Why did this practice end? What happened tothe people who had been building them? There are still a lot of unsolved
mystery about the earthwork burial circles built during a specific period(latter half of the Late Jomon period) in a specific location (Hokkaido).

The Surprising Size of the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles!
Of the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles, Circle No. 1 has a maximum earthwork diameter of approx. 83 m,
making it one of the largest Jomon Period graves visible from ground level.
Blue whales measure 26 m in length, and the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Boeing 777, measures 74
m in length, so you can see just how large Earthwork Burial Circle No. 1 is by comparison.
The highest of the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles is Circle No. 2, which measures approx. 5 m from the

Earthwork Burial Circle No. 1

grave surface (ground) level to the top of the embankment. It has been calculated that building Earthwork
Burial Circle No. 2 required the movement of approx. 3,000 m3 of soil. If it took one person one day using
Jomon Period tools to dig up, transport, and stack up 1 m3 of soil, it would have taken 25 people 120 days tobuild this huge burial circle.

Boeing 777

74m

Blue whale

26m

83m

Timeline of Research on the Kiusu
Earthwork Burial Circles
Approx. 1,200 years B.C. The Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles were built
Approx. 500 years B.C. Area was covered in volcanic ash (Ta-c)due to the eruption of Mt. Tarumae
1739 Area was covered in volcanic ash (Ta-a)due to the eruption of Mt. Tarumae
Excavation-related events
P r e s e r v a t i o n - / d e s i g n ation-related events

I

Advocacy by Tsunekichi Kono and many other researchers largely contributed to the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles being repeatedly designated andprotected as a historic site, and they have long beencherished by local residents.
We need to continue carefully protecting this historic site in the future for many more people to beable to see and experience.

※From Shokumin Koho. According to thesketches in Tsunekichi Kono’s Notes,construction was completed in 1891.

1890※ Construction of the Yuni Rord (present-day National Route 337) running through the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles were completed
1901 A field survey was conductedby Tsunekichi Kono.

n the first half of the 1900s when research was in the early stages, historian Tsunekichi Kono created a sketch (1) of the unique topography seem around the Kiusu area based on field and interview
surveys, introducing the site as an Ainu chashi (fort). Also, aroundthis time a monument marked Chashi-kotsu (fort relics) has alreadybeen erected in the local area. Subsequently, the Kiusu Earthwork
Burial Circles were provisionally designated as“Historic Site Kiusu-no-Chashi (fort)”in 1930 (3), and for a long time the mainstream
thinking was that the site was a fort.
Hiromichi Kono—Tsunekichi Kono’s son—conducted of Kiusu
Earthwork Burial Circle No. 7 and the Shuen-Kurisawa site in Shari
Town. From the results of surveys, he determined that these sites
were actually Jomon Period gravesites and named them as Kanjo-dori (earth circles for burial). Furthermore, Toshio Oba and Toru
Ishikawa discovered graves when excavating Kiusu Earthwork
Burial Circles No. 1 and 2 and around sites, (4 – 9), reporting thesites to be communal gravesites of the Jomon Period due to thelayering of the soil. However, because of the vast size of the Earthwork Burial Circles, it took time for them to become widely recognized as dating from the Jomon Period.
Following subsequent reconnaissance surveys, the name of thesite was changed to“Earthwork Burial Circles”to enable better
understanding by members of the general public, and the site was

Chitose City’s Cultural Property
Character MAMACHI-KUN

1917 A field survey was conducted by Tsunekichi Kono [Fig. 1];
a field survey was conducted by Masaki Abe; a reconnaissance survey was conducted by Shugo Matsuzaka [Fig. 2].
1922 A survey was conducted by Tsunekichi
Kono (interviews).
1930 The Hokkaido Government provisionally designated Earthwork Burial Circles No. 1 through 5
as“Historic Site Kiusu-no-Chashi (fort)”underdesignated as a
the Law for the Preservation of Historic Sites,
national historic site
Places of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monuments
in 1979.
(designated area 3.8 ha) [Photograph 3].
A detailed distribution survey conducted between 2013 and2017 (10) newly discovered Earthwork
Burial Circle No. 14 (11), which was added
to the designated historic site area in 2019. In
1950
2020, the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles wererecommended as candidates for UNESCO World Heritage listing as a component part of the“Jomon Prehistoric
Sites in Northern Japan”.

⑤ Excavating Earthwork Burial Circle No. 1 (1964)⑥ A stone pillar discovered in a grave within
the Earthwork Burial Circle No. 1 (1964)⑦ A stone rod buried in a grave on the outerrim of Earthwork Burial Circle No. 4 (1965)⑧ E xcavating Earthwork Burial Circle No. 2(1965)⑨ Area around a grave in Earthwork Burial Circle No. 2 (1965)⑩ D istribution survey being conductedaround the historic site (2013)

① S ketch created by Tsunekichi Kono (from Tsunekichi Kono’s Notes, edited by Utagawa (1981)

No.6

No.1

② Survey map created by Shugo Matsuzaka (fromAppendix of Maps to Hokkaido History (1918))③ Signboard erected when the burial circles were provisionally designated as the “Historic Site Kiusu-no-Chashi(fort)” (photographed between 1930 and 1934)

No.3
No.2

No.4
No.5

No.7
No.9
No.10

④ Distribution map created by Toshio Oba and Toru Ishikawa (Chitose Archeological Sites (1967))
A theory formulated that the site
is an Ainu chashi (fort).

No.8

Earthwork Burial Circles No. 7 through 10 and 13

A theory formulated that the site isa Jomon Period communal grave.

A survey of Earthwork Burial Circle No. 7 was
conducted by Hiromichi Kono (a grave with a stonepillar spread with red iron oxide was discovered).

Here we explain about the numbering of the earthwork burial circles not included in the Designated
Historic Site. As shown in the figure above, No. 7 is located a distance of 300 m to the southwest of thehistoric site. From the time of their discovery, No. 8, 9, and 10 were already flattened and their exact locations later became unclear. Furthermore, it become clear that No.13 located 3km away to the south of
the historic site didn't have earthwork burial circle and its name have been changed to“Oruika 1 site”.

1964 A survey of Earthwork Burial Circle No. 1 (five graves were discovered) was conducted by Toshio Oba and Toru Ishikawa [Photographs 5 and 6]; Earthwork Burial Circles No. 6 through 10 recognized and diagrammed [Fig. 4].
1965 Surveys of Earthwork Burial Circle No. 2 (one grave was discovered; cross-section (previous page) recorded) [Photographs 8 and 9] and a grave (a stone rod was excavated) [Photograph 7] located outer rim of Earthwork Burial Circle
No.4 were conducted by Toshio Oba and Toru Ishikawa the outer rim of Earthwork Burial Circle No. 4 .
1968 Based on the survey results of Oba’s team, Earthwork Burial Circles No. 1
through 6 were designated as Cultural Properties of Hokkaido as“Chitose-Kiusu
Kanjo-dori (earth circles for burial) Group”(designated area: 41,615.05 m2).
1978 A joint reconnaissance survey was conducted by the Chitose Board of Education and Nara National
Research Institute for Cultural Properties (Earthwork Burial Circles No. 11 and 12 were discovered).
1979 Earthwork Burial Circles No. 1 through 6, 11, and 12 were collectively designated as a national historic site as the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles(designated area: 49,441.00 m2).
2012 The Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles were added as a component part of the“Jōmon Archaeological Sites in Hokkaidō, Northern Tōhoku, and other regions”,
which is entered on the Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Center.
―2013 A detailed distribution survey of the historic site and surrounding area was conducted (Earthwork Burial Circle
2017 No. 14 was discovered). [Photographs 10 and 11], and a
topographic reconnaissance survey was carried out.
⑪ Earthwork Burial Circle No. 14, buried in
the ground (2017)

The designated area of the national historic site was
expanded to include Earthwork Burial Circle No. 14(designated area: 108,772.06 m2).

2019

The Japanese Government (Agency for Cultural Affairs) submitted recommendation to UNESCO that the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles be registered on the World Heritage List as
one of the“Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan”.

2020On-The-Spot Report! The Kiusu
Earthwork Burial Circles Today
Earthwork Burial Circle No. 1

Earthwork Burial Circle No. 3

Earthwork Burial Circle No. 1 has the largest outer diameter of the others. The embankment links with No. 3 and 4,
which preserved the shapes of two burial circles. The center of the depression (pit) inside the circle is raised.

Although the embankment is low, the depression (pit) in thecenter is clearly visible.

Embankment

Embankment

2m
Depression(pit)*The height and width of the image is expanded at a raito 2:1,respectively.

Cross-section of Earthwork Burial Circle No. 1

No. 14No. 6

Earthwork Burial Circle
No. 6 and 14
The embankment of No. 6 is low andits shape is slightly unclear. No. 14 wasdiscovered in the distribution survey conducted in recent years. The site has since
been reburied.
Both these sites are on private land andtherefore cannot be visited by the generalpublic.

No. 4

No. 11

Earthwork Burial Circle No. 4
The inner diameter of this burial circle is the largest among
the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles, so you can realize thedepression is spacious.

Order in which the Kiusu Earthwork
Burial Circles were built
Because neighboring earthwork burial circles partially share embankments, it is possible to estimate the order in which they were built fromthe layering of the soil.
The group on the southern side was constructed in the order No. 12 →No. 5→No. 2. The central group was constructed in the order No. 11→No.
4→No. 1, No. 3→No. 1. The northern group was constructed in the orderNo. 14→No. 6. In all of the groups, it has been pointed out, the earthwork
burial circles constructed later become large.

Earthwork burial circles photographed by Yurihiro Yoshida (2020)

C

urrently, nine earthwork burial circles have been identi-

fied and designated as a national historic site. Earthenware,

Embankment Size (Unit: meters)

Earthwork Burial Circle Outer diameter Inner diameter Embankment height* Embankment width
No. 1

83

36

2.8

23.5

No. 2

73

30

4.7

21.5

they were made have been excavated from the earthwork

No. 3

51

27

0.8

12.0

burial circles. In addition, a stone rod and a stone pillar

No. 4

79

43

1.5

18.5

No. 5

51

24

0.8

13.5

No. 6

52

22

0.6

15.0

No. 11

53

23

0.6

15.0

No. 12

33

16

0.4

8.5

No. 14

19

11

0.6

4.3

stone tools, and clay figures indicating the period in whichthought to have been erected as grave-marker have been
discovered in graves at the sites.
Each embankments have a lower part (indicated by theblue arrows). These parts in the embankment are thought
to be built as entrances/exits for accessing the depression.

*This is the largest comparable height difference between the crown of the embankment and the bottom point of the depression (pit) where the earthwork does
not overlap with that of another burial circle.

The following is a list of the points of interestfor the main earthwork burial circles. Why don't
you walk around viewing each site, check eachpoint while picturing life in the Jomon Period
in your mind? For Earthwork Burial Circles No. 1
and 2, the excavation areas and positions of thegraves that have been discovered are indicated.

A Mysterious Mound
There is a mysterious mound of
soil adjacent to No. 1 and No. 3.
As this mound is positioned on an
extended line of the outer circumference of No. 1 on its northernside (red dotted line), it is possiblethat it was originally part of theembankment of No. 1.

Earthwork Burial Circle No. 2
The embankment of No. 2 is the highest of those among the
Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles. Seen from inside the burial
circle, you will likely to be surprised the height of the embankment is overwhelming.

No. 3
No. 1

Parking lot

P

No. 2

Embankment

Embankment

Depression(pit)*The height and width of the image is expanded at a raito 2:1,respectively.

Cross-section of Earthwork Burial Circle No. 2

No. 5

No. 12Visitors’ PathArea of the Designated Historic Site
0Path to the Earthwork Burial Circles
The detailed topographical survey conducted between 2013 and 2017
discovered a depression sandwiched between two parallel rows of
low mounds running north-south from the western side of the Kiusu
Earthwork Burial Circles. Because of its shape and the fact that theentrances/exits for No. 4, 5, and 12 all face onto this depression, itis thought to be a man-made“path”. A similar path leading for the
Kiusu Earthwark Burial Circles has been discovered at Kiusu 4 site,
located 500 m away to the southwest of the Kiusu Earthwork Burial

100m

Area open to visitors
Original entrances/
exits to burial circles

Circles. It is possible that these two paths were connecting.
Furthermore, because the entrances/exits for No. 1 and 3 are orientated in the same direction, facing the entrances/exits for No. 1 and 2,
it is thought that the shallow valley-shaped depression running eastwest between the two sets of entrances/exits must also had beenused as a path. And this path connected and merged with the northsouth“path”mentioned above.

Excavated Relics from the Kiusu
Earthwork Burial Circles
The excavated artifacts pictured are on display at the Chitose Buried Cultural Property Center.

Jomon Potteries excavated from Earthwork Burial Circle No.1

front

A saddlequern excavated from Earthwork Burial Circle No. 2

back

A stone rod excavated from a grave at the outer rim of Earthwork Burial Circle No.4 (City Designated Cultural Property)

Earthenware, stone implements, and clay figures excavatedfrom Earthwork Burial Circles No.1 and 2

Access to the Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles■Addresses 2777 Chuo, Chitose City, Hokkaido and other locations※10 km from JR Chitose Station, 12 km from New Chitose Airport※Drive north along National Route 337 from the Chitose-Higashi Interchange on the DOTO Expressway (in the directionof Naganuma); you will soon see woods close to the road on
both sides. This is your landmark.
※No public transportation available.

Chitose Buried Cultural Property Center■Addresses 42-1 Osatsu, Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan 066–0001
TEL 0123ｰ24ｰ4210

To Naganuma

Chitose Buried Cultural
Property Center

Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles

To Sapporo

DOTO Expressway

Eniwa Station

New Year (December 29 – January 3)*Open on the second Sunday of every month■Admission fee Free of charge

Chitose River
Osatsu StationTo
SapporoChitose Eniwa Junction

Chitose Station
Motorway

Chitose Interchange
To Lake Shikotsu

Minami-Chitose Station

New Chitose Airport Station

To Tomakomai

Chitose Archaeological Operations
Center website

To Obihiro

DO-O Expressway

New Chitose Airport Interchange

Official Twitter
account

To Obihiro

Chitose-Higashi Interchange

Sapporo Beer Teien Station※8 km from JR Chitose Station, 5 km from JR Osatsu Station, 7km from Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles※No public transportation available.

■Opening hours 9:00 – 17:00■Closed Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, Year-end/

Parking lot

New Chitose
AirportTo Tomakomai

Cover photography: Yurihiro Yoshida
Chitose Archaeological Operations Center PR materials for promoting public awareness of cultural properties
Published September 30, 2020