05 · Storage · surplus is also power

Rice on stilts

The raised granary of Yoshinogari

Raising the ground protected the harvest from moisture and animals, but doors controlled who could enter.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of The elevated granary of Yoshinogari, Yoshinogari, Saga, Kyushu, Especially 1st–3rd centuries CE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Sturdy posts supported elevated buildings interpreted as granaries. Ventilation and separation from the ground helped preserve seed rice, tribute and market goods, while removable stairs limited rodents and human access.

The reconstructions are based on post holes, not complete preserved buildings. Their location near enclosures and exchange areas suggests collective or elite management; we do not know exactly what part of the harvest belonged to each family.

Raising the ground favoured ventilation and separated the contents from moisture and rodents; discs or solutions on the posts could hinder animal ascent. The ladder could be removed to control access.

Some elevated buildings may have stored seed, offerings or trade goods, while others may have been residences. Function is inferred from size, position and parallels, because grains and walls are not always preserved.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: the park documents numerous stores, elevated structures and areas interpreted as market and depot. Interpretation and caution: specific function of each building, tributary system and full elevation are reasoned reconstructions. Expanded documented fact: Post holes and the park's reconstruction document elevated buildings near ceremonial and storage areas. Expanded interpretation and caution: Do not call every granary a treasury nor reproduce a specific structure as an original complete preserved building.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: Especially 1st–3rd centuries CE
Location: Yoshinogari, Saga, Kyushu
Material: Posts, planks, thatch, ropes and rice
Context: Elevated stores in residential and commercial sectors
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Conservation: The interpretation is based on post holes, ground levels and position, not intact elevations.
Seed: The park proposes that some stores contained seed rice for offerings or for the following year.
Ambiguity: Square elevated buildings may also be interpreted as residence or ritual depot.
Documentary coverage: 2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

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Especially 1st–3rd centuries CE

Rice on stilts

Yayoi Japan

Granaries of several phases; no individual date of a preserved structure.

Current record

Wood13 dated objects

1 / 13In the centre: Shigir Idol

Also connected, without a comparable date (3)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Memory in performanceBantu-speaking worlds · 19th–20th centuries and transmitted practice
Rome learns in terracottaEtruscans and Rome · End of the sixth century BCE
Tools in relationBatwa / Twa histories · ca. 1947

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Architecture

Current object, without a comparable date: Rice on stilts.

Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures
Ishtar Gate · 7th–6th centuries BCE · work of Nebuchadnezzar II · Sumer
Heads on the wall · c. 800–300 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A White Wall on the Danube · 6th century BCE · Celtic worlds
Cemetery · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Four gardens and water · 6th century BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Kumbi Saleh · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries · Mande Worlds
Livestock and mounds · c. 2050–1500 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Lothal · ca. 2400–1600 BCE · Indus civilisation
Rome learns in terracotta · End of the sixth century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The altar cord · Approximate composition and transmission c. 800–500 BCE, with revisions · Vedic and later Indian worlds
The quarry remained visible · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Tichitt walls · II–I millennia BCE · Mande Worlds

Storage

Current object, without a comparable date: Rice on stilts.

Pithos · c. 1450–1375 BCE · Greek worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Liédena Flask · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry · Etruscans and Rome
Oil in a calabash · ca. 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
Tichitt walls · II–I millennia BCE · Mande Worlds

Agriculture

Current object, without a comparable date: Rice on stilts.

Account of malt and barley · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Pithos · c. 1450–1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Seeds of the oasis · 900–400 cal BCE · Garamantes

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Canal and field · IV–III millennium BCE · Sumer
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Four gardens and water · 6th century BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Tichitt walls · II–I millennia BCE · Mande Worlds

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Storehouses near a waterway

The commercial interpretation of Kura to Ichi is not based solely on finding elevated buildings. The park notes the ancient proximity of a river by which boats could travel, delimitation by ditches and organisational similarities with Chinese market representations. This position brought together transport possibilities, product concentration and access control. This combination makes it reasonable to propose exchange and storage, although it does not prove a fiscal office with known rules. Viewing the granary within this network allows asking how goods arrived and who could remove them, as well as how they were protected.

Heritage · Yoshinogari Historical Park · Kura to IchiAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

LOCATED SITE

Yoshinogari · JapanMarker of the Yayoi settlement.

Sources and references

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Rice on stilts

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Rice on stilts

Shigir Idol

Holmegaard bow

Abydos Boats

Royal Game of Ur

Standard of Ur

Maya's cubit

Wooden faces

Mazarrón 1

Mazarrón 2

Bow and arrows in a case

Kuba ndop

19th-century kora

Lukasa

A closer look

Storehouses near a waterway

Location and territory

Sources and references

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