Kayano Site, Archaeological site in Shintō, Gunma Prefecture, Japan

The Kayano Site is a late Jōmon settlement on a slope at the southeastern foot of Mount Soma in Shintō, Gunma Prefecture. Excavations in 1989 and 1990 revealed pit dwellings, tombs, and a water-place feature arranged around the settlement, along with 577 earthenware earrings and 55 stone tablets.

The site was found in 1989 during a farmland improvement survey, and excavations followed in 1989 and 1990. Its pit dwellings, tombs and pits date from the first half of the late Jōmon period, roughly 2500 to 3000 years ago. The 1950 excavated objects were designated an Important Cultural Property in 1992, and the ruins a National Historic Site in 2000.

The foundations and artifacts found at the site demonstrate the daily activities and settlement patterns of prehistoric communities in central Japan.

The site is now a park, while the 1,950 excavated items are kept and partly displayed at the Shintō Village Museum of Earrings, established in 1992. The site and museum are about 25 minutes by car from the Maebashi Interchange on the Kan'etsu Expressway.

Of the 577 earthenware earrings found, about 200 were intact, yet not one matched pair was found. Many are pulley-shaped or pierced discs, some red or black; a clay figurine head shows how they were worn. The site may have produced them for trade.