The centre of a chiefdom in Kyushu in the later part of the Yayoi period was excavated at Yoshinogari. The site was moated and fortified with watchtowers, and contained storehouses, a large cemetery and burial mounds for the elite of the settlement.
The large outer moat was dug in the 1st century BC, enclosing a village that was occupied until the end of the 1st century AD. A large burial mound was built of layers of pounded earth in the northern part of the site.
Sometime after AD 100 a second moat was dug in the central area enclosed by the outer moat. A defensive wall was built outside this moat and the enclosure was further defended by watchtowers and wooden palings. Defensive features such as these were described in contemporary Chinese accounts of Japan.
Inside this enclosure was a large building with a raised floor, surrounded by a ditch, thought to be the chief's palace.
Traces of about fifty very large storehouses with raised floors were found to the west of the outer moat. They were probably used to store the rice paid to the chief in taxes.
