Torihama shell mound

The Torihama shell mound (鳥浜貝塚, Torihama kaizuka) is a shell midden and remains of an Early Jōmon period settlement located in the Torihama neighbourhood of the town of Wakasa, Fukui, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It is a waterlogged midden site that was occupied mainly from the Incipient Jomon period to the Early Jomon period from 12,000 to 5,000 years ago (10,000–3,000 BC).

The site is located in the area of Lake Mikata, one of the Mikata five lakes, near the confluence of Hasu and Takase Rivers, within the borders of the Wakasa Wan Quasi-National Park. At that time, the Shiibayama hill on which the site is located extended like a cape from the west to the east, and Lake Mikata extended to the tip of the hill. On the southern slope of the hill, three pit dwellings were detected, indicating that there were settlements. The shell midden begins at a depth of 7 meters underground to 3 meters above ground. At the time it was used as a garbage dumping site, it was in the lake.