会誌『考古学研究』

Abstract:  In this paper, I investigate the transformation of settlement patterns in the Ichihara city area (Chiba prefecture) from the late middle Yayoi to the early middle Kofun periods in order to reconstruct the relationships of local groups and their historical processes toward regional integration on the periphery of a chiefly confederacy system indicated by the distribution of keyhole-shaped tumuli (zenpokoenfun) centred on the Kinai district.
　Keyhole shaped tumuli may have been introduced into peripheral areas as local cores for a pattern of regional integration that was launched with the diffusion of cultural information. As preceding societies had no rigid membership based on genealogy, neither a stratified society nor political organization based on conically related clans had developed. Also regional integration seems to have brought additional disruption among local groups.
　I declare that chiefs were not allied religiously or ideologically with any system for exclusive governance of either territory or control of local reproduction during the early Kofun period. It is necessary to examine and reevaluate the relationship between centre and periphery relative to a viewpoint of reciprocal relationships.

Keywords: State formation theory; descent; kindred; integrating movement; Ichihara city, Chiba prefecture.

Abstract: Early horse trappings that appear in the middle Kofun period have been regarded as important evidence that equestrian culture was brought to the Japanese Islands from Eurasia. In this paper, I discuss the evidence that is available regarding the manufacturing technology and genealogy of early bits. First, I examine the manufacturing technology of these early bits in detail. Then, based on the importation of many of the bits from the southern parts of the Korean Peninsula, and the relationship between them and other artifacts from the same archaeological contexts, we clarify the chronology of the early bits and establish three phases. Second, in reference to the manufacturing dates in northeast China and the Korean Peninsula, I identify the approximate manufacturing dates of each stage. Thirdly, I examine the genealogy of the bits and reveal that the bits could be traced to various areas of the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.
　The genealogical variety of the early bits proves that horses and horse trappings were introduced via various routes, and this probably indicates that equestrian culture was established through a process of trial and error before horse production took root in the Japanese Islands. In conclusion, it is difficult to fully explain all the early horse trappings, based on a close relationship between the Wa sovereignty and the specific country (area).

Keywords: Japanese Islands; middle Kofun period; early horse trappings; early bits; manufacturing technology.

Abstract: In this article I examine from an archaeological point of view how iron production in ancient Kibi declined. Iron production in the area prospered in the seventh and eighth centuries and started to decline in the Heian period, probably due to the depletion of utilizable iron-ore. After the Heian period, the center of iron production moved to the Chugoku mountain district where iron sand was abundant. I also examine the possibility that the depletion of fuel caused the move of iron production sites, but conclude that fuel depletion cannot necessarily be linked to the complete decline of iron production, as the trees can regrow to be used as a source of charcoal again.

Keywords: Iron production sites; wood strips with letters; iron-ore; iron sand; charcoal.