Morgan Pitelka, "Reading Medieval Ruins: Urban Life and Destruction in Sixteenth-Century Japan," (Cambridge University Press, 2022)

The Japanese provincial city of Ichijōdani was destroyed in the civil wars of the late sixteenth century but never rebuilt. Archaeological excavations have since uncovered the most detailed late medieval urban site in the country. Drawing on analysis of specific excavated objects and decades of archaeological evidence to study daily life in Ichijōdani, Reading Medieval Ruins in Sixteenth-Century Japan illuminates the city's layout, the possessions and houses of its residents, its politics and experience of war, and religious and cultural networks. Morgan Pitelka demonstrates how provincial centers could be dynamic and vibrant nodes of industrial, cultural, economic, and political entrepreneurship and sophistication. In this study a new and vital understanding of late medieval society is revealed, one in which Ichijôdani played a central role in the vibrant age of Japan's sixteenth century. Reading Medieval Ruins in Sixteenth-Century Japan by Morgan Pitelka Archaeology of Ichijōdani and Medieval Japan Excavations in Ichijōdani: Uncovering Medieval Daily Life Late Medieval Urban Site in Japan Ichijōdani’s Role in Japan’s Civil Wars Provincial City Life in Sixteenth-Century Japan Archaeological Discoveries in Japan’s Sengoku Period Daily Life and Culture in Medieval Japan Politics and Economy of Ichijōdani Sixteenth-Century Japanese Religious Networks Urban Sophistication in Provincial Japan Late Medieval Japanese Society and Ichijōdani Japan’s Warring States Era Archaeology Cultural and Economic Networks in Medieval Japan Industrial and Political Life in Sixteenth-Century Japan East Asian Studies Podcast Japanese History Podcast Japanese History Japanese Religious History Medieval Japan