The plateau consists of uplifted reef
limestones of
Paleozoic age, which were thickened by
overfolding during the Akiyoshidai orogenic movement. Subsequent erosion has created an undulating
karst landscape dimpled with many
dolines and countless limestone pinnacles up to two meters in height. Beneath the surface lie hundreds of caves, a few of them quite significant geologically. Numerous fossils of
Pleistocene age have been found in these caves, including those of the Japanese
rhinoceros,
Stegodont elephant,
Naumann elephant, Young
tiger, and many other animals from the last interglacial period. The area around Akiyoshidai was heavily forested about 500,000 years ago. In the
Jōmon period, with the general area serving as a hunting ground and the bottoms of
sinkholes as vegetable fields. Numerous
Paleolithic artifacts have been recovered. As farming started in Japan the local people eventually entirely replaced the forested landscape with
Japanese pampas grass for feeding their animals and thatching houses. Repeated cycles of burning the grass have kept trees from growing back since. ==Akiyoshidō==