会誌『考古学研究』

Abstract: In this paper I review the postwar history of excavation and policies for the preservation of archaeological sites in Japan, focusing especially on the transitions and characteristics of approaches to these issues, which are closely related to academic archaeological studies. While archaeological excavations carried out for academic purposes are relatively few, there are many excavations conducted in Japan for recording and preserving sites, on a scale among the largest in the world. Japanese archaeology is characterized by the fact that most of the excavations are carried out by local government institutions, and most archaeologists belong to such organizations. The implementation of archaeology rooted in locality has played a great role in clarifying local histories and promoting the vitality of local communities.
　The 60-year history of postwar Japanese archaeology divides into six phases. The system of rescue archaeology carried out mainly by local governments was established in 1964-65 at the start of Phase II; however, the program of deregulation initiated at the start of Phase VI in 2004 may transform the system in a fundamental way. The long-established process of having archaeological operations carried out by local governments had developed against the background of a tendency for local communities to regard archaeological sites as linked with their own ancestors, since no substantial ethnic shift has occurred in Japan, as well as a legacy of community involvement in local archaeology under the influence of prewar policies regarding ancient monuments and education in local history. Excavations conducted by local governments have discovered a wide range of archaeological sites. While this has greatly contributed to the development of archaeology and historical studies, local-based archaeology also has a tendency to fall into “boastful talk about one's native place.” To strike a balance between the cultivation of human resources for local archaeology and the development of archaeological studies, further collaboration between universities and local government institutions must be promoted.

Keywords: policies for preservation of archaeological sites; preventive archaeology; local-based archaeology; localism; program of deregulation.

Abstract: Public archaeology in contemporary Japan can be characterised by its strong and largely successful educational and promotional activities and also by its relatively weak reflection on the multivocality of objects and the socio-political nature of archaeology. This essay offers a critical analysis of the links between archaeology, cultural properties and cultural heritage and calls for more discussion on how archaeology, as a discipline, can build a mutually beneficial relationship with cultural heritage, which is subject to relativism but is also appealing to the public.

Keywords: public archaeology; cultural heritage; cultural properties; objectivity; identifying with the past.

Abstract: In this paper we argue that a drastic reduction of settlements in the regions around Izu, Hakone, and Mt. Fuji was related to environmental change due to volcanic activity in the Late and Final Jomon periods. Through our investigation at the Gotanbata site, Kanagawa prefecture, and the results of previous excavations, we identified several phases of volcanic activity from stratigraphic analysis of tephra and associated archaeological materials, and estimated absolute dates for each eruption based upon AMS radiocarbon dates of charcoal samples attached to pottery. In addition, we cross-checked previous results of tephra chronology from volcanology with our archaeological study, and confirmed the reliability of our research. Our study showed continuous volcanic activity for approximately 200-300 years at Mt. Fuji, Mt. Amagi, and Mt. Hakone between the Kasori B phase (ca. 1600-1500 BC) and the Angyo 2 and Lower Shimizu-Tennozan 2 phases (ca. 1400-1300 BC) in the middle to late phases of the Late Jomon period. Archaeological evidence in the form of earth fissures suggests that a number of earthquakes accompanied the eruptions. Therefore we consider that natural disasters and environmental change led to the reduction of settlements in these regions.

Keywords: Late and Final Jomon Periods; volcanic eruptions at Izu, Hakone, and Mt. Fuji; tephra analysis; AMS radiocarbon dating; natural disasters.

Abstract: The prehistory of the Yaeyama Islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago is divided into two archaeological periods, Shimotabaru and Mudoki (trans. no unglazed pottery), with a chronological blank between them. While coral reef resources were exploited during both periods, it should be noted that spatio-temporal variations in coral reef formation can be observed even within individual islands. Analyzing the spatial differences of present coral reef landforms as a proxy of their developmental differences, we determined the geo-scientific radiocarbon dates of coral reef development at several locales to estimate the spatio-temporal variations throughout Ishigaki Island. The results were then examined within the archaeological context of each prehistoric period. This revealed that the location of archaeological habitation sites is not exclusively restricted to the spatial range of developed coral reef landforms in either period. Although the prehistory of Yaeyama Islands is characterized by hunting and gathering, the specifics of resource utilization for each island and area should be investigated further.

Keywords: coral-reef formation; remote sensing; archaeological site location; prehistoric resource utilization; Yaeyama Islands.

Abstract: In Bencao Tujing, written by Su Ban in the 1070s during the Song Dynasty in China, there is a record of baiyangshi 白羊石 and heiyangshi 黒羊石 (hakuyoseki and kokuyoseki, respectively, in Japanese) produced in Yanzhou, Shandong province. It is likely that baiyangshi is a fossil shell in the shape of a sheep horn that is white in color, while heiyangshi is black. The latter term was first introduced to Japan in the Edo period through Bencao Gangmu, written by Li Shizhen. In 1612 Hayashi Razan envisioned it as a kind of shiny black stone. In a report compiled between 1751 and 1763, the magistrate's office of Sado referred to obsidian produced there as kokuyoseki 黒曜石. Kiuchi Sekitei used this variant (黒曜石) of kokuyoseki in Unkonshi in 1773, and wrote that it indicated the same thing as its Japanese homonym (黒羊石). The officers of the Sado gold mine apparently confused obsidian with the Chinese item 黒羊石, which they read in Japanese as kokuyoseki, and changed the orthography to its Japanese form, 黒曜石, since the character yo 曜 means “to shine like the sun.”
　When Western science was introduced to Japan in the Meiji period, Wada Tsunashiro translated obsidian as kokuyoseki 黒曜石. Archaeologists started using the term around 1886. After that, scholars in mineralogy and petrology began to use the term seki 石 for mineral and gan 岩 for rock. Since around 1935, kokuyogan 黒曜岩 has been used as an academic term in mineralogy and petrology. I argue that the term kokuyogan 黒曜岩 should accordingly be used as the academic term in archaeology.

Keywords: kokuyoseki 黒曜石; kokuyoseki 黒羊石; kokuyogan 黒曜岩; obsidian; etymology; archaeology; academic term.