Archaeology in Japan

     Today I was out on my morning jog when I went past the JA (Japan Agriculture) building.  Across the street are fields and within one of them were these holes.



Now my first thought was "holy cow, look at the gophers!", but then I noticed how regularly the topsoil was removed.  I have seen this before in Japan, only at the time the holes were filled with Archaeologists (I know what you are thinking, they were alive and mostly women to boot).  When I approached them then, I was informed that because Japan has such a long history, every construction project that is going to disturb the stratigraphy must have a dig performed in order to make sure that nothing important is destroyed.  Seems a bit much, but I can see the point and support the science.  So it seems that the first dig I found was active and real artifacts were being found, while I do not know if anything was discovered here.
     You gotta love a country that can keep their archaeologists busy.  In the States, they just wander around and get into your garbage, kind of like degreed raccoons. . .