Japanese Archaeology Research Articles

Social change at the end of the Middle Jomon: a perspective from resilience theory

It is widely known that social change occurred in the end of the Middle Jōmon, which can be seen in archaeological evidence such as settlements, pottery types, and so on. Most archaeologists have recognised this change as a result of climate change. It is said that a cooling trend in this period had a great influence on food acquisition and caused low chestnut harvests, which was a staple. However, the notion that climate was the critical factor is not sufficient to explain the social change that occurred at the end of the Middle Jōmon, because similar types of society existed after this cooling trend, although the population numbers decreased. It is also important to consider human adaptation to the environment, especially in the case of hunter-gatherer societies. In this paper, I will describe the outline of the arguments supporting the environment theory among Japanese archaeologists, and explore how Jōmon people overcame this period and constructed a new society, based on resilience theory.

Burials of kings or of tribal leaders? Interpreting the evidence from monumental tombs in southern Japan

In recent decades, Japanese archaeologists have carried out a great many new excavations and have added immensely to knowledge of Japan's prehistoric and historic past, but interpretation of this vast body of evidence has aroused controversy. Here the Institute's newly appointed lecturer in Japanese archaeology examines the much debated question of how hierarchical societies developed in Japan between 200 BC and AD 300.

Dual Nature in the Creation of Disciplinary Identity: A Socio-historical Review of Palaeolithic Archaeology in Japan

An expansion in archaeological excavations and site identifications over the last 30 years, particularly through an increase in salvage projects and the growth of government archaeology in Japan, has made the Japanese Islands one of the most dense regions of Palaeolithic archaeological sites in East Asia. The history of Pleistocene site discoveries and chronological frameworks for Palaeolithic lithic industries are summarized, followed by a critical review of research trajectories in the accumulation of a Palaeolithic record, specifically in terms of changes in relationships among academic archaeology, government archaeology, the public, and mass media. This article also attempts to clarify the peculiar structure of current Japanese archaeology that allowed the construction of a falsified Palaeolithic prehistory by some unscrupulous researchers for 20 years until its sensational exposure by a national daily in 2000.

Why Didn’t Agriculture Develop in Japan? A Consideration of Jomon Ecological Style, Niche Construction, and the Origins of Domestication.

Over the course of some 12,000 years, Jomon cultures developed a highly refined adjustment to the Japanese landscape. Japanese archaeologists have exposed Jomon culture in great detail, but because it rested on wild resources, the Jomon era attracts little worldwide archaeological interest. This paper discusses Jomon ecological style in light of niche construction theory to consider the conditions that gave rise to agriculture and domestication. Jomon communities clearly managed much of their landscape and many plant and animal populations. Drawing on ideas from niche construction theory, we argue that qualities of potential domesticates are a central factor in the development of agriculture.

Comparison of the Periodization Methodologies of the Korean Bronze Age and the Japanese Yayoi Period

In this article, I will examine the research history of subdivision/periodization of Korea’s Bronze Age and Japan’s Yayoi period and compare the methodologies of the two countries. The subdivisions of the Korean Bronze Age and the Japanese Yayoi period are similar in that they set changes in pottery as the basis, but show clear differences in their contents. The subdivision of the Korean Bronze Age set at first the changes in metalware and later the changes in pottery as the standard. However, after the concept of “types” was introduced, cultural epochs became the standard. Of course, periodization is initially done using material culture including pottery, followed by cultural interpretations of other archaeological aspects. However, it can be seen as a methodological limitation. The subdivision of the Japanese Yayoi period, however, used changes in pottery as the standard since the formation of Japanese archaeology. Whether good or bad, it is said to be the most important characteristic of Japanese archaeology. Of course, the idea is that classification is not simply based on changes in pottery form but includes changes in pottery types under the concept of “model,” but is limited in its actual application.

Archaeology, Society and Identity in Modern Japan (review)

Reviewed by: Archaeology, Society and Identity in Modern Japan Walter Edwards (bio) Archaeology, Society and Identity in Modern Japan. By Koji Mizoguchi. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006. xvi, 183 pages. $80.00. The focus of this volume is on archaeology as grounded in modern society. Taking the Japanese case as his immediate subject matter, Koji Mizoguchi [End Page 225] looks at the history of the field in terms of its relationship with the emergence and development of the modern nation-state and seeks in particular to explain the fragmentary nature of contemporary archaeological discourse as deriving from the conditions of postmodernity. Heavily theoretical in his approach, Mizoguchi draws on the sociology of Niklas Luhmann in outlining a three-part sequence of social development from premodern to the classic modern then postmodern stages, each characterized by a different value framework for supporting the social order (or for "deparadoxizing communication," in Luhmann's terms). In premodern societies, appeal could be made to something outside the human realm "such as the divine and god-given order" (p. xiii). While this was no longer possible with the onset of modernity, which brings greater social complexity and increased relativity in value perspectives, during the classic stage appeal could still be made to a transcendental, common identity—such as the "ethnie"—forming the basis of the nation-state, whose emergence was closely linked with the transition to modernity itself. By contrast, postmodernity is characterized by a fragmentation so total that appeals to common, shared frameworks are no longer possible, and all of society and communication are thoroughly relativized, multivocal, and indeterminate. Under this formulation, the Japanese premodern stage came to an end with the Meiji Restoration, and classic modernity changed to postmodernity sometime in the 1970s. Mizoguchi's presentation of this framework is piecemeal and at times inconsistent, but a more serious problem involves his characterization of the classic stage of modernity. The assertion that once the nation-state had emerged, appeals could no longer be made to divine authority openly contradicts Meiji documents such as the Imperial Rescript on Education, whose bland exhortations of Confucian morality are sandwiched between declarations of a sacredly endowed, absolute moral order. Basil Chamberlain had little trouble recognizing in such statements the birth of a "new Japanese religion [consisting] . . . of worship of the sacrosanct Imperial Person and of His Divine Ancestors."1 But the same period also saw the development of the family state metaphor, which as Mizoguchi notes was indeed intended as an organically based, "common, shared framework" of identity for the nation-state. Accordingly, and regardless of whether this error stems from Luhmann's formulation or Mizoguchi's application of it, dichotomization of value frameworks into "pre-modern=divinely endowed" versus "classic modern=common identity" types is too simplistic. Put differently, the ideology of the prewar state was more complex than the scheme allows. [End Page 226] But apart from this, the framework serves adequately as backdrop for Mizoguchi's analysis of the historical development of Japanese archaeology. This has long been structured by an opposition he traces to the tensonkōrin myth in the ancient chronicles, which implied a division of the past into a prehistory peopled by indigenous, non-Yamato residents prior to the arrival of the imperial ancestors, versus the "history" of the Japanese people from that point forward. Archaeological data were readily matched to this scheme by taking Jōmon materials as remains left by the former group, and the study of Jōmon culture accordingly advanced unimpeded as it never threatened the mythological framework. Materials of the Yayoi period, however, were by implication traces of the imperial ancestors' migration to the archipelago, and those of the Kofun period included mounded tombs designated as imperial mausolea. The study of these remains had to be approached with caution lest doubt be cast on the authenticity of the mythological account forming the basis of the kokutai, the ideology of the nation-state. Whatever misgivings archaeologists had, as they sorted out the chronologies of these materials in the first part of the twentieth century, were kept private, and archaeological research into the Kofun period in particular was stunted. This opposition between "safe" versus "dangerous" (or "contentious") archaeology...

Reassessing the concept of the ‘Neolithic’ in the Jomon of Western Japan

The concept of the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition is difficult to apply in the Japanese archipelago. The earliest pottery usage occurs in late Palaeolithic contexts. Holocene foragers lived in stable, permanent village settlements and constructed large scale monuments, and the first real ‘agriculture’ arrived as part of a cultural package which also included metallurgy. This paper will examine the use of the term ‘Neolithic’ in the history of Japanese archaeology, with particular emphasis on what happened in the western part of the archipelago in the latter part of the Jomon period (c. 5000 BC – c. 500 BC). Recent investigations in Kyushu and Western Honshu are leading to a re-assessment of the nature of Jomon culture and society in this region, traditionally considered to have ‘lagged behind’ the more developed societies of the eastern part of the archipelago, expressed in part through much lower population densities.

NEW LIGHT ON TAIWAN HIGHLAND PREHISTORY

Compared to the Western Plains and the East Coast, archaeological research in the central Taiwan Highlands has been very limited. In recent decades, not only most CRM archaeology but also the most active archaeological excavations in Taiwan have been conducted in the lowlands, giving results which have greatly enriched our understanding of Taiwanese prehistory. Nevertheless, archaeological study in the mountainous areas, nowadays mostly inhabited by Austronesian-speaking Formosan people, lapsed after the Japanese colonial period (18951945). Although some excavation and survey projects have been conducted in the highlands since the 1980s (e.g. Chiu and Gao 1988; Tsang and Chang 1995, 1996; Liu and Ho 1998), the limited literature is mostly based on the work of Japanese archaeologists and ethnologists undertaken over sixty years ago. To have a more comprehensive discussion about prehistoric island-wide population movements and cultural interactions, further archaeological work in the interior mountains of Taiwan is necessary. The National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung commissioned a digital museum project on Tsou culture in 2001 and 2002. During this time, the authors conducted archaeological fieldwork in the Ali Shan area of central Taiwan (Fig. 1). Abundant sites and remains were researched during this project and the results are presented here.

A Digital Data Survey for Japanese Archaeology (JAD2) Part II (Individuals)

A Digital Data Survey for Japanese Archaeology (JAD2) Part II (Individuals)

Pots not People

This article considers the relationship between identity politics and archaeological interpretations of ethnicity in postwar Japan. Although race and ethnicity were important concepts in early Japanese archaeology, from the 1930s a new interpretive paradigm based on archaeological cultures began to dominate the discipline. After the end of the Second World War, Japanese archaeologists became increasingly concerned with sociopolitical issues relating to democracy and peace, but the continued absence of explicit discussion of prehistoric ethnicity has tended to reinforce the primordialist view of ethnic identity that became common in postwar Japanese society. This article discusses the use of ethnicity in Japanese archaeology, citing examples from Hokkaido, Okinawa, and the Jômon-Yayoi transition. It is argued that the lack of emphasis afforded to ethnicity in postwar archaeology in Japan reflects interest in other sociopolitical issues rather than theoretical naivety with respect to identity politics.

William Gowland: The Father of Japanese Archaeology (review)

William Gowland: The Father of Japanese Archaeology (review)

For the people, by the people: postwar Japanese archaeology and the Early Paleolithic hoax

From at least 1976 until his exposure by the media in November 2000, amateur archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura planted artifacts at over 180 Paleolithic ‘sites’ in Miyagi Prefecture and other parts of eastern Japan. As a result of this hoax, the existence of an Early Paleolithic stretching back more than half a million years became widely accepted in Japan. Fujimura perpetrated one of the biggest archaeological hoaxes of the 20th century and his actions have important implications for the way archaeological research is conducted in Japan and beyond. This article explores the sociopolitical background to the hoax and argues that the emphasis on archaeology as ‘people’s history’ in postwar Japan was one important factor in the favorable evaluations given to Fujimura’s discoveries. It is suggested that the lessons of the Fujimura hoax support the need for a stronger and more reflexive relationship between archaeology and anthropology in Japan.

Shape difference visualization for ancient bronze mirrors through 3D range images

AbstractJapanese archaeologists have paid special attention to ancient Chinese bronze mirrors because the mirrors may provide a key for the exact location of Yamatai State, which is one of the major archaeological controversies. Currently, archaeologists visually analyse ancient Chinese bronze mirrors for their shape difference. The practice requires a huge amount of time and effort. In this paper, we propose an automatic method for detecting the shape difference between a pair of ancient mirrors. The 3D data of the mirrors are obtained using a laser range scanner. Our algorithm then aligns them into the same coordinate and visualizes their shape differences. Our proposed algorithm provides fast and non‐damaging analysis for shape difference. Further analysis can be evaluated on our data instead of the actual mirror, so it can be performed by more than one group of archaeologists. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Trouble in the Japanese Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

The debate about the occupation of the Japanese archipelago before 30,000 years ago was apparently resolved with the discovery and investigation of a series of sites in north eastern Japan such as Babadan A and latterly Kamitakamori, which seemed to provide securely dated contexts for hominid activity dating to before 500,000 years ago. These discoveries were thrown into doubt when one of the major protagonists in the debate was discovered planting artefacts. The subsequent scandal, which has rocked Japanese archaeology to its core, was widely reported in the media and a full-scale investigation is still underway. This paper summarises information from some of the sites claimed to be Lower and Middle Palaeolithic, and sets them in a broader East Asian context.

Japanese archaeology in the 1990s

As scientific archaeology takes hold in Japan, our understanding of the nature and content of Japanese prehistory is changing radically. All of the period boundaries of Japanese prehistory are being rewritten, and many new “archaeologies” are growing up around particular scientific techniques. New publications in English give greater access to archaeological thinking in Japan, while Japanese publications focus on ever-narrowing aspects of prehistoric lifeways. Policy changes are giving archaeologists more access to the imperial tombs, and rescue teams are under less obligation to “save everything” as selective preservation is instituted.

A Reconsideration of the Concept of Descent in Japanese Archaeology

A Reconsideration of the Concept of Descent in Japanese Archaeology

The Reproduction of Archaeological Discourse: the Case of Japan

This paper argues that, if we are to understand the intrinsic nature of archaeology as a social practice, we have to situate the way in which we are conducting archaeological practices in both local and global contexts for considering a way forward. This contention is supported by a critical account of the current crisis situation in which Japanese archaeology operates. It is argued that this crisis situation has resulted from changes which have been taking place in both macro- and microlevels of Japanese social reality. A Marxist tradition, which had kept theory and practice of Japanese archaeology integrated with a certain sense of reality, collapsed from changes which took place in the international political climate and in domestic social conditions. Those changes had significant effects not only upon the discursive level of the consciousness of the archaeologist but also upon the non-discursive level of the consciousness of the archaeologist. The current condition of the non-discursive consciousness of the archaeologist makes it almost impossible to grasp the causes of the crisis and to consider a possible way out. It is argued that the creation of a critical ontology, enabling us discursively to grasp the causes of the crisis, is badly needed to improve the situation. It is proposed that such a critical ontology should enable us to grasp the mechanism of the formation of non-discursive/practical consciousness of ourselves which, together with the experience of the material conditions, constitutes the subjective conditions under which we conduct our archaeological practice.

Prehistoric Japan: new perspectives on insular East Asia

In the past few years, there has been a growing appreciation by Western scholars of the vast scale, great achievements, and methodological originality of Japanese archaeologists. However, an understanding of the results of their work has been hampered in the West by a lack of up-to-date and authoritative texts in English. This book provides Western readers for the first time with a uniquely East Asian perspective of Japanese archaeology. Prehistoric Japan is organized into 16 chapters covering the environment, the history of the Japanese investigations of their past, the peculiarities of Japanese scholars' interests and methodologies, the organization and material culture of previous Japanese societies, economic trade and the question of immigration, the political unification of Japan, and the relationships between the core islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu to Hokkaido in the north and the Ryukyu Islands to the south.

Nationalism, Politics, and the Practice of Archaeology.

Part I. Introduction: Archaeology in the Service of the State: Theoretical Considerations Philip L. Kohl and Clare Fawcett Part II. Western Europe: 1. Civilization, barbarism, and nationalism in European archaeology Bernard Wailes and Amy L. Zoll 2. Archaeology and nationalism in Spain Margarita Diaz-Andreu 3. Nationalism and Copper Age research in Portugal during the Salazar Regime (1932-1974) Katina T. Lillios 4. Archaeology in Nazi Germany: the legacy of Faustian bargain Bettina Arnold and Henning Hassman 5. Nazi and eco-feminist prehistories: ideology and empiricism in Indo-European archaeology David W. Anthony Part III. Eastern Europe and Eurasia: 6. Archaeology and ideology in Southeast Europe Timothy Kaiser 7. From internationalism to nationalism: forgotten pages of soviet archaeology in the 1930s and 1940s Victor A. Shnirelman 8. Postscript: Russian archaeology after the collapse of the USSR infrastructural crisis and the resurgence of old and new nationalism E. N. Chernykh 9. Nationalism, politics and the practice of archaeology in the Caucasus Philip L. Kohl and Gocha R. Tsetskhladze Part IV. East Asia: 10. Thirty years of Chinese archaeology (1949-1979) Enzheng Tong 11. The regionalist paradigm in Chinese archaeology Lothar von Falkenhausen 12. The politics of ethnicity in prehistoric Korea Sarah M. Nelson 13. Nationalism and postwar Japanese archaeology Clare Fawcett Part V. Commentary: 14. Promised lands and chosen peoples: the politics and poetics of archaeological narrative Neil Asher Silberman 15. Romanticism, nationalism and archaeology Bruce G. Trigger.

Kish in the Kassite Period (c.1650–1150 B.C.)

After over half a century systematic excavation is once again underway at Kish. A team of Japanese archaeologists led by Prof. Hideo Fujii has reopened the archaeological investigation of this large ancient site where many periods of occupation are to be found. This study focuses on only a small fragment of the history of settlement at Kish, drawing together the evidence for habitation on the site in the Kassite Period.The evidence may broadly be separated into three groups: inscribed objects found at Kish; references to Kish in texts of the Kassite Period; and artifacts peculiar to the Kassite Period found on the site.The history and results of the excavations conducted at Kish before the Second World War have been well summarized by Moorey [1978]. I do not intend to present an even briefer summary in this paper. Suffice it to note that the bulk of the material discussed below derives from the two major campaigns at Kish: those of de Genouillac in 1912 [1925; Gibson: 1972: 69–70], and those of the Oxford–Field Museum Expedition between 1923 and 1933 [Field: 1929; Langdon: 1924; Mackay: 1925, 1929; Watelin: 1930, 1934; Gibson: 1972: 69–70]. Important supplementary evidence is also contained in the results of the surface survey work conducted at and around Kish by Gibson [1972].