Nakadomari (archaeological site)

Nakadomari

仲泊遺跡
Signs at the entrance to the site
Location	Onna, Okinawa
Coordinates	26°26′N 127°47′E / 26.43°N 127.79°E / 26.43; 127.79
History
Periods	Kaizuka period Early modern period
Cultures	Ryukyu Kingdom
Site notes
Discovered	1954
Excavation dates	1974–1977
Archaeologists	Shinjun Tawada
Designation	National Historic Site

Nakadomari (Japanese: 仲泊遺跡) is an archaeological site of the prehistoric and early modern periods in Onna, Okinawa. It is a complex site that includes remains of the Early Kaizuka Period Phase IV and V and Late Kaizuka Periods, as well as of the early modern Ryukyu kingdom. It is located on a limestone outcrop about 30 m high, along the coast, near the border between Nakadomari and Yamada in Onna. A river runs from the hills behind to the sea.^[1]

The site was excavated between 1974 and 1977. It includes four shell middens of the Kaizuka Period, some of which with dwelling remains, a cave with occupation of the Kaizuka Period, and the early modern Hiyagonbira paved road.^[1][2] The Kaizuka Period sites, and especially Shell Mound #4, yielded pottery sherds that became the type for the Nakadomari Pottery (Japanese: 仲泊式土器), a representative pottery type of the Early Kaizuka Period Phase IV, lithics made of obsidian imported from the Japanese island of Kyūshū, Japanese pottery of the Yayoi Period and even wooden implements, which were the first ones discovered in Okinawa for this period. Several of the sites included dwellings under rock shelters. It was at the time the first rock-shelter dwelling sites to have been found in Okinawa Island.^[1]