TRENDS IN ARCHAEOLOGY IN JAPANJomon Period
AONO Tomoya1For Jomon period burial system study, outstanding discussions were on fundamental
study of stone lined graves (haisekibo) mainly in the Kanto and Chubu regions, and therelationship between features/artifacts other than graves and villages.
For subsistence study, progress was seen in an environmental reconstruction basedon animal remains excavated from a shell midden, and empirical research on salt
making using seaweed based on examination of micro spiral shells excavated from anarchaeological site.
For artifact study, the largest number of theses were on pottery chronology anddistribution in various parts of the country, as in other years.
For ritual study, many studies were on clay ﬁgurines, as well as stone rods and stone
paved settlements related to Midorikawahigashi site in Kunitachi City, Tokyo. As forclay ﬁgurines, there were a study on the excavated situation of conic and hollow clay
ﬁgurines (chuku-ensui-gata dogu) within an earthen pit, and a study on the backgroundof change and disappearance of clay ﬁgurines in the Yayoi period in the Tohoku region.
Also, in relation to publication of many general books on the interpretation of clay
ﬁgurines in recent years, there was a thesis that poses a question on archaeologicalmethod in interpretation of use and function of clay ﬁgurines. There seems to be an
extreme view that interpretation itself should not be attempted among book reviews andacademic trends related to clay ﬁgurines, but the author feels that discussion should bemade on establishment of archaeological methods, or methods for referring to research
results of other ﬁelds.
For stone-paved settlements including four large stone rods excavated from
Midorikawahigashi site, many discussions were held on theses and symposiums on stonerods themselves or their relation to stone paved settlements since the site was excavatedin 2012. As for related theses, one discussed the life cycle of keyhole-shaped (ekagamigata) stone-paved settlements. The large stone rods of Midorikawahigashi site weredesignated as important cultural properties in 2017.
As for study on Jomon society, many tended to discuss stratiﬁed society. There
1 c/o Date City Institute of Funkawan Culture, 21–5 Tateyama, Date City, Hokkaido 052–0031, Japan(tomoya.aono@icloud.com)

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were a case study on structural analysis of Jomon village in Shizuoka Prefecture, andan evaluation of settlements compounding in Late/Final Jomon based on the size andnumber of settlements and a multi-body burial grave system in the Chiba area. At thepresent, a strong view is that Late/Final Jomon society did not reach a chiefdom stage,
while the existence of a leader integrating societies is admitted since some integrationand compounding are recognized. There is a suggestion that the current argument
on Jomon stratiﬁed society should be viewed objectively, since it can be learned that“trends” of archaeological study in Japan are linked to trend of modern society bylooking back at the research history of Jomon social theory.
Fiscal 2016 Hirosaki convention of the Japanese Archaeological Association had asectional meeting on “Jomon culture around Tsugaru Straight.” A data collection book
was published that compiled clay and stone objects excavated from southern Hokkaido
and northern Tohoku, and it contains artifacts worth new research. The existence of sucha large number of clay and stone objects around Tsugaru Strait itself may be worth a
focus of study.
The 8th World Archaeology Congress was held at Doshisha University, and it wasattended by 1,600 people from 80 countries. Also, various events took place at thesame time, such as symposium and lecture sessions at museums in Kyoto, as well as
an exhibition of collaborated work with archaeology and art. Sessions and individual
presentations related to the Jomon period were held on these events.

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