ARCHAEOLOGIA JAPONICA

Paleolithic
HASHIZUME Jun1
Many examples of Japanese archaeological study are being dispatched overseas in recentyears. Reports and discussions were conducted on archaeological and geological obsidianstudies in Japan at the Fifth Arheoinvest Symposium, ‘Stories Written in Stone’, heldin Iasi, Romania. At the Paleoamerican Odyssey, held in New Mexico, U.S.A., it wasindicated that pursuit of the origin of Pre-Clovis culture and its diffusion route has
already begun in the Americas. In northeast Asia the period before the latest glacial
stage is being focused on, so it is necessary to examine how Japanese data can contributeto studies on LGM or incipient phase stemmed points, as they can be connected tosuch studies. There were publications of: AKAZAWA Takeru, et al. (eds.) Dynamics
of learning in Neanderthals and Modern Humans Volume 1: Cultural Perspectives(2013, Springer); YAMADA Masayoshi and ONO Akira, (eds.) Lithic Raw Material
Exploitation and Circulation in Prehistory (2014, ERAUL 138), ONO Akira et al. (eds.)
Methodological Issues for Characterization and Provenance Studies of Obsidian inNortheast Asia (2014, BAR S2626).
This ﬁscal year saw active study on lithic raw material, especially obsidian. At theNagano Convention of the Japanese Archaeological Association in 2013, examplesof provenance studies of obsidian in the central part of the Japanese Islands werecollected. In addition to the data in Kanto and Hokkaido that have been accumulated
in the past, development of studies utilizing such databases is expected in the future.
Japanese Paleolithic Research Association held a symposium, “Radiocarbon Dates
and Comparisons of Interregional Chronology of the Japanese Upper Paleolithic,”
where reports were made on the present states on dating of lithics in various parts ofthe country. In the discussion, it was pointed out that it is important to accumulate
measurement examples in order to grasp correlation with paleo environments rather thanjust to date each lithic.
This ﬁscal year continued to see achievements from large study projects basedon competitive funds. Achievements of JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Researchon Innovative Areas, ‘Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans: Testing
1 Center for Obsidian and Lithic Studies, Meiji University, 3670–8, Daimon, Nagawa Town, ChiisagataCounty, Nagano 386–0601, Japan(j_hashi@meiji.ac.jp)

JAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 3 (2015): 50–51© Japanese Archaeological Association

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JAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 3 (2015): 50–51

TRENDS IN ARCHAEOLOGY
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IN JAPAN

Evolutionary Models of Learning’ could be learned on the project homepage (http://www.
koutaigeki.org/eng/index.html). In Grant-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Research (A), “Research on
the Formation Process and Transﬁguration of the Pleistocene Human Societies in the
Northern Circum-Sea of Japan Area through the Obsidian Exploitation and Circulation,”results of archaeological obsidian study, mainly on Hokkaido, were announced. MEXT
Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities,‘Historical Variation in Interactions between Humans and Natural Resources: Towards
the Construction of a Prehistoric Anthropography,’ indicated the possibility of correlation
between change of human behavior and change in paleo environment regarding obsidiansources located at elevations higher than 1,000 meters above sea level in the central
part of Japan, based on reconstruction of vertical change in the tree line position in themarginal regions between forest and non-forest area.
Reports on large excavation projects that have been accumulating enormous research
results such as Shirataki sites near large stone material sources in northeast Japan, anda series of excavations in southern Central Japan due to construction of Shin-Tomei
Expressway are being concluded or about to be concluded. Utilization of these results areexpected in the future.

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