History

Origins of the Sendai City Tomizawa Site Museum

A preliminary survey to build an elementary school was conducted at the Tomizawa ruins between 1987 and 1988. It was the 30th survey conducted at the site, so it is called the "30th Tomizawa Ruins Survey". Soil containing well-preserved remains of rice fields, dating from modern times to the Yayoi period (c. 300 BCE-300 CE) and, below that, the remains of holes from the Jomon period (c. 14,000–300 BCE) were discovered. From a further two meters down (approximately five meters below the current surface), remains of human activity and a forest dating back to the Paleolithic Period, approximately 20,000 years ago, were discovered at the same time.
This was a discovery of international importance, so it has been preserved and opened to the public in the state it was excavated. As a result, the elementary school due to be built was relocated and the Sendai City Tomizawa Site Museum was built.
The Museum was opened on 2nd November, 1996.

Establishment

Owing to the important discovery made by the 30th Tomizawa Ruins Survey, Sendai City elected to preserve the surveyed area and open it to the public. It therefore went ahead with the integrated construction of the " Sendai City Tomizawa Site Museum", which exhibits and publicly displays tree and bonfire remains in their preserved state without removing them from the land, and the "Hyogaki-no-Mori" (Ice age forest), which recreates the vegetation of the Paleolithic Period based on discovered tree remains. The Sendai City Tomizawa Site Museum was established to deepen citizens' understanding principally of the Paleolithic Age by making use of the preserved Tomizawa ruins and outside exhibits.

Cross section of geological strata

A geological strata cross section of the Tomizawa ruins, extending as far as five meters below ground, is exhibited in its stripped state.
The stratum of the Paleolithic Period (20,000 years ago) has a height of about seven meters. Two meters above that is the Jomon Period stratum, and then above that a peat layer is sandwiched between strata of rice fields from the Yayoi Period to the current era. The current surface is above soil dug during land readjustment around 1975-85.

Management and operation

This has been conducted by the Sendai Cultural Foundation, which was designated as the museum manager by Sendai City for a five year period from 2012 to 2016.