Excavated materials from the Tsuzura-ozaki Lake Bottom Site

The Tsuzura-ozaki Lake Ruins (in Kohokucho, Nagahama City) are located in a lake-bottom valley approximately 70 meters deep and around 600 to 700 meters east of Tsuzura-ozaki. Early Jomon period pottery (dating to approximately 10 thousand years ago), as well as Yayoi period pottery and Haji and Sue pottery from the Kofun period have been excavated from the site. The majority was found by fishermen in their trawling nets. Theories as to why these artifacts were at the bottom of the lake include the flow of the lake causing them to gather there, movement of the earth’s crust, the collapse of a formerly mountainside village, and religious rituals, but no conclusion has been reached.