Excavation work beneath Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum ends after one year and five months
Apr. 1, 2017
by Gosuke Nagahisa, Staff Writer
On March 31, the City of Hiroshima completed the excavation work that had been undertaken beneath the Peace Memorial Museum’s main building in the Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward, Hiroshima. During this excavation work, which was carried out over a period of one year and five months through layers of earth that existed at the time of the atomic bombing, household utensils and remains from the former Nakajima district were unearthed. The Nakajima district was decimated by the atomic bomb. The city is entrusting the Hiroshima City Culture Foundation with the task of conducting further analysis of the excavated artifacts, and will make public, through the Peace Memorial Museum, the items considered most valuable.
The excavation was prompted by the city’s plan to install a seismic isolator in the ground of the main building’s foundations to fortify the building in the event of an earthquake. In November 2015, before pursuing this plan, digging beneath the building began, covering about 2,200 square meters, in order to record any artifacts in that location. The excavation work, which was initially projected to finish by March 2016, was extended for a year so that the geological layers that existed at the time of the Edo period (1603-1868) could be investigated. On March 30, when the excavation work was completed, the excavation workers cleaned up the site and removed all their equipment.
Before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the area was a residential neighborhood with homes and shops. According to the city’s Peace Promotion Division, dishes, glass bottles, and coins which had been used before the war were found. As of February 2017, the amount of unearthed artifacts has filled about 700 special containers that each measure 63 cm x 44 cm x 10 cm. The Hiroshima City Culture Foundation will classify these artifacts according to the geological layer and the location where they were excavated, then prepare a report on the items discovered.
One year ago, the City of Hiroshima cut out a 90 cm x 60 cm portion of the ground surface which existed at the time of the bombing and which contained a collection of charred wooden rice scoops. The work to coat this cut-out area with resin, in order to preserve it, is now almost finished. The coated ground surface will be made public at an exhibition.
The city will enlarge the area currently surrounded by fences and begin the earthquake reinforcement work in May or so. The area will then be refilled when the work is completed. The city also plans to excavate another part of the Peace Memorial Park to search for any artifacts that existed before the atomic bombing. New findings will be preserved and presented to the public.
(Originally published on April 1, 2017)
On March 31, the City of Hiroshima completed the excavation work that had been undertaken beneath the Peace Memorial Museum’s main building in the Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward, Hiroshima. During this excavation work, which was carried out over a period of one year and five months through layers of earth that existed at the time of the atomic bombing, household utensils and remains from the former Nakajima district were unearthed. The Nakajima district was decimated by the atomic bomb. The city is entrusting the Hiroshima City Culture Foundation with the task of conducting further analysis of the excavated artifacts, and will make public, through the Peace Memorial Museum, the items considered most valuable.
The excavation was prompted by the city’s plan to install a seismic isolator in the ground of the main building’s foundations to fortify the building in the event of an earthquake. In November 2015, before pursuing this plan, digging beneath the building began, covering about 2,200 square meters, in order to record any artifacts in that location. The excavation work, which was initially projected to finish by March 2016, was extended for a year so that the geological layers that existed at the time of the Edo period (1603-1868) could be investigated. On March 30, when the excavation work was completed, the excavation workers cleaned up the site and removed all their equipment.
Before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the area was a residential neighborhood with homes and shops. According to the city’s Peace Promotion Division, dishes, glass bottles, and coins which had been used before the war were found. As of February 2017, the amount of unearthed artifacts has filled about 700 special containers that each measure 63 cm x 44 cm x 10 cm. The Hiroshima City Culture Foundation will classify these artifacts according to the geological layer and the location where they were excavated, then prepare a report on the items discovered.
One year ago, the City of Hiroshima cut out a 90 cm x 60 cm portion of the ground surface which existed at the time of the bombing and which contained a collection of charred wooden rice scoops. The work to coat this cut-out area with resin, in order to preserve it, is now almost finished. The coated ground surface will be made public at an exhibition.
The city will enlarge the area currently surrounded by fences and begin the earthquake reinforcement work in May or so. The area will then be refilled when the work is completed. The city also plans to excavate another part of the Peace Memorial Park to search for any artifacts that existed before the atomic bombing. New findings will be preserved and presented to the public.
(Originally published on April 1, 2017)
