Stone circle

Stone circles are found far beyond their north-western European heartland. The most famous Asian example is the Ōyu Stone Circles in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture, in northern Japan, a late Jōmon period site of about 2000 to 1500 BCE. It consists of two large stone circles built on an artificially flattened plateau on the left bank of the Ōyu River. The site was discovered in 1931, excavated in detail in 1946 and in 1951 to 1952, and designated a Special National Historic Site in 1956. Each circle is made of rounded river stones brought from a river about 7 kilometres away, set in two concentric rings. The larger, called Manza, is the largest stone circle found in Japan; its clusters of stones have been read as a sundial pointing to the summer solstice sunset. The regional background, “Stone circles in other regions”, is given below.

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