Vol.60 No.4(240),March, 2014
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT OF LECTURE TO BE DELIVERED AT THE 60th GENERAL MEETING
OF THE SOCIETY
Japanese archaeology seen from abroad: A view from China and Canada
Qin Xiaoli
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS TO BE PRESENTED AT THE 60th ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY: JAPANESE ARCHAEOLOGY FROM THE WORLD’S PERSPECTIVE
Theme: Japanese archaeology from the world’s perspective
ISHIMURA Tomo and NIIRO Izumi
Jomon culture from the world’s perspective: Toward internationalization
SEGUCHI Shinji
Yayoi culture from the world’s perspective: Characteristics of Yayoi culture
NAGATOMO Tomoko
Study of the Kofun period of Japanese archipelago in the World Archaeologies: as seen from
the perspective of comparative archaeology
TSUJITA Jun’ichiro
A standpoint of Japanese archaeologist in the world: Fields in the Southeast Asia
MARUI Masako
ARTICLES
A large grave containing multiple burials and its mortuary practice at the Karinba site in Eniwa,
Hokkaido: Comment on the article by Aono (2012) regarding “group burial (gasso-bo)”
UWAYA Shin’ichi and KIMURA Hideaki
Abstract: In this paper I study the so-called water drip roof tile distributed around the northern Bingo area, examining the design of the eave roof tile and the manufacturing techniques. First, I reconstructed the manufacturing process based on its traces observed on the materials. Next, I considered the process of emergence and transformation of the triangular protrusion at the base of the round end piece of the tile from the viewpoint of manufacture techniques. I showed that the protrusion originated as a remnant of the shaping process, and became a part of the design as that method of shaping became conventional. Finally I compared the materials of so-called water drip roof tiles recovered from various areas including Bicchu, Bingo, Izumo, and Aki, linking their conditions with the activities of roof tile craftsmen and tracing their development. As a result it was confirmed that the areas of northern Bingo and Izumo in particular were closely related to each other.
Keywords: Karinba site; terminal phase of the Late Jomon period; large grave containing multiple burials; lacquer-coated artifacts; simultaneous burying.
A study of roof tile craftsmen in the Chūgoku region in Ancient times: Focusing on the distribution of the so-called water drip roof tile
KOBAYASHI Shinpei
Abstract: In this paper I study the so-called water drip roof tile distributed around the northern Bingo area, examining the design of the eave roof tile and the manufacturing techniques. First, I reconstructed the manufacturing process based on its traces observed on the materials. Next, I considered the process of emergence and transformation of the triangular protrusion at the base of the round end piece of the tile from the viewpoint of manufacture techniques. I showed that the protrusion originated as a remnant of the shaping process, and became a part of the design as that method of shaping became conventional. Finally I compared the materials of so-called water drip roof tiles recovered from various areas including Bicchu, Bingo, Izumo, and Aki, linking their conditions with the activities of roof tile craftsmen and tracing their development. As a result it was confirmed that the areas of northern Bingo and Izumo in particular were closely related to each other.
Keywords: Asuka period; Chugoku region; so-called water drip roof tile, manufacturing technique; roof tile craftsmen.
RESEARCH NOTES
Interpreting seed impressions on pottery
ENDO Eiko
Abstract: I studied the formation process of seed impressions on pottery using identifications of seed species by the replica method. This method enables identifying seed species by observing silicone resin replicas, taken from impressions on the surface of pottery, with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and comparing the form with specimens of real seeds. This is an efficient method for archaeobotanical studies in the Japanese archipelago as seed remains recovered from archaeological contexts are scarce. However, as it is possible that the formation process of seed impressions on pottery is diverse, I tried to clarify it in this study by examining the positions and forms of the impressions and by identifying the original species. This showed that the formation process of rice impressions without an overhanging cross section, frequently observed on the exterior surface of the base in Yayoi pottery, was different from those on other locations on pottery, and it is probable that it was made by design. Concentrated seed impressions on the exterior surface of the base can be seen in Mumun pottery on the Korean Peninsula, and in Yuusu type pottery in Kyushu which is thought to show the diffusion of Korean manufacturing techniques. In addition, as similar impressions can be seen in some Yayoi pottery in eastern Japan, I regard the appearance of rice impressions on the exterior surface of the base of Yayoi pottery as one indicator of the diffusion and spread of the Yayoi pottery manufacturing technique.
Keywords: formation process of seed impressions on pottery; replica method; seeds of domesticated plants; formative period of agriculture; manufacture technique of Yayoi pottery.
Environmental variability in the first half of the sixth century
NIIRO Izumi
Abstract: Global-scale climate deterioration in the first half of the sixth century is being increasingly recognized in many academic fields. This event, frequently referred to as the ‘AD 536 event’, has been identified by some scholars as a crucial phenomenon which divides history to bring about the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire and the rise of Islam. Opinions have been divided however over the reliability of the data and the actual causes of the climate deterioration. Recent discussions are, however, approaching a consensus based on the achievements in dendrochronology and the analyses of ice cores from Greenland and other regions. These results support the likelihood of the event, and demonstrate that it was the most severe, short-term climate deterioration in the last 2000 years. This climate deterioration also left its traces in Japan. Archaeological data from this period contains unexplainable characteristics when compared with the earlier and the later periods. Some historical documents record confusion over kingships, and conflict between regional groups. The Nihon Shoki records an imperial edict issued in the first year of the reign of Emperor Senka (AD 536) which has an account implying the need for aid for foreign regions. This edict could therefore serve as evidence of climate deterioration. In other countries, such as Ireland and Sweden, similar climate influences have been inferred from the historical and archaeological evidence. For these reasons, the importance of the influences of short-term climate deterioration on a global scale should be fully discussed in Japanese archaeology.
Keywords: AD 536 event; environmental variability; dendrochronology; ice core; volcanic eruption.
Warfare in the southern Maya periphery: The case of the Chalchuapa site, El Salvador
ICHIKAWA Akira
Abstract: Studies of warfare has contributed to the understanding of the history of dynasties in the Maya Lowlands region and the process of the decline of the Classic Maya civilization. However, more archaeological evidence and further studies are required for a comprehensive understanding of warfare in the Preclassic period and in the regions other than the Maya Lowlands region. In this paper I explore warfare in the peripheries of the southern Maya region, analyzing archaeological records from the Chalchuapa site in western El Salvador. I clarified that evidence of warfare, such as the destruction of stone monuments and ceremonial architectures, and human skeletal remains with traces of violence, appear in the archaeological contexts of the periods after the Late Preclassic period. I also revealed that the situation of warfare vary according to period. In the Late Preclassic period, conflicts mainly took place between different subgroups within a social group. In the Terminal Preclassic period, some local groups actively accepting external cultural elements came to power and from the latter part of the Late Classic period to the Late Postclassic period, conflicts between different social groups became predominant. This evidence shows that warfare was common in the periphery regions throughout the various periods and implies that the societies of the periphery were not static or passive to the societies in the central regions, but were dynamic and independently active.
Keywords: early state; state formation process; Kofun period; sociopolitical organization; comparative study.
The achievements and current state of early state theory research: Concerning research trends with
a focus on the Early State Project
SUDO Chiemi
Abstract: The early state is one concept for considering the process of state formation, and early state theory has now become systematized through 30 years of research conducted abroad by the Early State Project. In Japan, since Tsude Hiroshi first proposed the application of early state theory, the concept has come to be understood as indicating the Kofun period. However, compared with the situation abroad, Japanese use of the term has been more restricted in its implication even while the role of the concept has been emphasized. In order to discuss early state theory more generally as an anthropological view of the process of state formation, rather than limiting examination to the Kofun period it would be more productive to widen the concept to indicate the development of sociopolitical organization.
Keywords: wartime regime; reburial; reduced-scale reconstruction of burial mounds; designation of imperial tombs.
REPORTS, NEWS AND APPEALS
Efforts for conservation of buried cultural properties in the recovering from the Great East Japan Earthquake
WATANABE Nobuyuki
Round-table talk on internationalization of Japanese archaeology: Why internationalize? How
internationalize?
SEGUCHI Shinji, HOSOYA Aoi, NAKAMURA Yuki and SHIBUTANI Ayako (Coordinator: ISHIMURA Tomo)
NEW BOOK
ABE Koichi and Fukushima Future Center for Regional Revitalization, Fukushima University,
Revitalizing Fukushima and Historic and Cultural Heritages
INTERVIEW WITH THE ARCHAEOLOGIST
Special edition: Voices of students in Kansai
ASAI Takuya, KOZUKI Katsumi, HIROSE Yuki, FUKUSHIMA Shiori (Interviewer: ISHIMURA Tomo)
VISIT TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
The Wadayama No. 23 tomb site in the Nomi tumuli group, Nomi City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Educational Board of Nomi City
Huaca Partida in Nepena Valley, Republic of Peru
SHIBATA Koichiro
MEMBERS’ COMMUNICATIONS
NEWS FROM THE COMMITTEE