Recent developments in Japanese prehistory: a review

Abstract

Japanese archaeology, in both its practice and its substantive results, has its own character. The scale of archaeological activity, especially in salvage work, is massive. The intellectual framework of study has its special concerns and aims. The cultural sequence has some exceptional features. Here the pattern of Japanese archaeology is set out with particular reference to the major new synthesis, Pearson's Windows on the Japanese past (1986, Ann Arbor (MI): Center for Japanese Studies, $26 paperback).