Abstract

A proton magnetometer survey of Yagi, a large early Jomon community of southwestern Hokkaido, was carried out by an international crew during the 1978 and 1979 field seasons. The survey, as part of the archaeological research at the Yagi site, was an attempt to identify distinct features and their areal variations in order to guide subsequent excavation. Extrapoloation from the correlations of the excavation results and their magnetic anomalies to areas not tested by excavation permits suggestions about the distribution of subsurface features and cultural debris within the Yagi site. This paper presents the theory of magnetic survey as applied in this situation together with the results of the survey at Yagi and an interpretation of the Yagi magnetometer data.