Ceramic Fragment Found at Fukagawa Wharf Registered as Provisional Lineage 152
A ceramic fragment found at Fukagawa Wharf earlier this month did not match the isotope ratios of any of the 151 known lineages, and was registered on the 14th as provisional Lineage 152. Its surface bears evenly spaced linear markings, though its purpose remains unknown.
According to the Third Appraisal Center, the ceramic fragment was found earlier this month by a 68-year-old man walking along the seawall at Fukagawa Wharf, who spotted it lying at his feet and brought it to the center, thinking it might be a drift object. It is a curved shard about 5 centimeters across and roughly 3 millimeters thick, its surface marked with eight evenly spaced linear grooves about 2 millimeters wide.
Appraisal officer Kasumi Hiwada, 35, handled the isotope-ratio analysis. After checking it against all 151 known lineages, none matched, and on the 14th it was formally registered as provisional Lineage 152. "The spacing of the markings is mechanically too precise to easily read as simple decoration," Hiwada said. "There's a view that it may have served some measuring or marking purpose, but for now that remains speculation."
As with the previously reported Lineage 151 (a comb-shaped drift object found at Sunamachi on October 10), the fragment has drawn comparison for its regular or irregular spacing of teeth or lines, but differing isotope ratios mean it has not been certified as the same lineage. The center said, "It isn't unusual for multiple drift objects with similar features to turn up around the same time. As long as the lineages differ, we treat them as separate records."
As of September 2026, lineage registrations under the Boundary Management Act stood at 121, but October has brought a run of new registrations with Lineages 151 and 152. Most are "one-time worlds" registered from a single drift object, with only five lineages ever reaching stable-window status. The man who found the shard laughed, "I never imagined it would actually get registered. It's a strange feeling, having a number attached to something I just happened to find." The center is asking the public to come forward with any drift objects bearing similar markings for comparison.
