Population of the village
How many people worked on the paddy fields? The population of Nakanishi- Akitsu can be estimated based on the sites of similar size at Kawanishi- Nenarigaki and Shijo-Shinano. The number of houses at these sites, however, is not known, and so we must use the area of the enclosure as an indication of site size.
We can use the site of Daikai in Hyogo prefecture as a model, where pit-dwellings were excavated within the moated area. During the early Yayoi at Daikai the moat was enlarged. Five pit-dwellings, eleven storage pits, and one wooden coffin burial were discovered. Assuming that all the buildings were occupied at one time, and on average five people lived in a single dwelling, then up to twenty-five people lived at the site. Hideto Morioka estimated that the average Yayoi village settlement comprised a small group of families, about twenty people in all, inhabiting four dwellings.[829] Hideji Harunari also estimated that most villages were relatively small, with a population of up to about thirty people.[830] The enclosed area of the Daikai site measured 65 ? 35 m. The long axes of Kawanishi-Nenarigaki and Shijo- Shinano were 140 m and 150 m respectively, twice the dimensions of Daikai, suggesting a possible population twice that of Daikai. Such estimates may be too simplistic, however, as many moats were constructed at both Kawanishi- Nenarigaki and Shijo-Shinano.
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