CONTENTS
Vol.65 No.2（258）, September 2018
LECTURE DELIVERED AT THE 64th GENERAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY
- Are
monuments symbols of power?: Centering on the example of the Andean
Civilization of South America
- SEKI Yuji
Abstract: This contribution
makes a multi-faceted consideration of mechanisms for the formation of
power, taking as object the Formative Period (BC 3000-c. 1 AD) of
Andean civilization which emerged in South America. It thus begins with
the “temple renovation” theory suggested by the Japanese Archaeological
Expedition to the Andes, which holds that the construction or
renovation of public architecture itself is a source of social change,
then divides the basis of power into its three sources of political
economy, warfare, and ideology by a comparative analytic approach which
takes their mutual relations as closely intertwined, and further
introduces a method of analysis for the ideological component in terms
of its implementation through practice. In conclusion, for the
formation of power there is regional diversity, and in that background
lurk various strategies of regional leaders regarding the circulation
of precious goods, the production of metal implements, and the
manipulation of social memory.
Keywords: Andean civilization;
Formative Period; power; temple renovation; social memory.
CASE REPORT DELIVERED AT THE 64th GENERAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY
- Cosmovision
of the Polynesian Chiefdom in Hawai‘i
- GOTO Akira
Abstract: Polynesia has been
one of the main research fields for the study of social evolution and
state formation since the publication of M. Sahlins’ Social
Stratification of Polynesia （1958） and I. Goldman’s Ancient Polynesian
Society （1970）. In particular, many researchers have been interested in
the Hawaiian chiefdom as a model of a pristine state.
In this paper, the natural environment and subsistence system,
together with the socio-political structure of the Hawaiian chiefdom as
seen in ethnohistory, are overviewed. Then on the basis of GPS data,
the distribution of temple sites （heiau） on Oʻhu Island is analyzed,
indicating a dual organization of the spatial system i.e., an
ecological aspect and a political aspect. The first aspect was related
to the production system and fertility rites, and the second one was
related to “hot spots”, i.e., district boundaries and war rituals.
This paper then discusses the ritualistic organization of war and
peace during the New Year festival, Makahiki. During this festival, war
was prohibited and war temples dedicated to Ku were closed as the
fertility god, Lono was believed to visit the islands with thunder and
rain, and moisten the land to restore fertility.
Since this festival was initiated when the Pleiades first appeared in
the eastern sky after sunset, this paper further analyzed the
significance of astronomical phenomena in the formation of the Hawaiian
chiefdom. As a conclusion, a concept of cosmovision （Broda 1982; Krupp
2015; Iwanislaweky 2015） that is based on the recognition of the
universe and society as a unified body is proposed as an appropriate
model for describing the relationship between rituals and war in
Hawaiian state formation.
Keywords: Polynesia; Hawaiʻi;
ritual; war; temple.
PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE 64th ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY:
WHAT IS POWER? ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF RITUAL AND WARFARE, Part 1
- Production
and distribution of iron weapons and the formation of the state in Japan
- TOYOSHIMA Naohiro
Abstract: This article
discusses changes in the production and distribution of iron weapons in
the mid-3rd and mid-7th centuries in Japan. There had previously been
regional diversity in the types and decorations of swords before
standardization occurred in the mid-3rd century, with distribution
centered in the Yamato area. This change suggests that random
circulation ended and that political power in the Yamato area started
to distribute iron weapons throughout Japan as prestige goods.
Powerful clans began to produce iron weapons in the 5th century and
organized their own armies. Further, the Soga and Mononobe clans began
to produce decorated swords in the 6th century, and distributed these
over wide areas to advance their regional control.
This situation was ended by the political revolution of 645, when the
royal family eliminated the leaders of the Soga clan and deprived them
of their weapons-producing capability. State-operated workshops and
warehouses for weapons were established in the 3rd quarter of the 7th
century, at the time the Japanese state was being formalized. A reason
for this change was the loss of a battle against forces of the Tang
Dynasty and the Silla Kingdom in 663.
Keywords: iron weapons;
prestige goods; army; early state; decorated swords.
ARTICLES
- Yayoi period measurement technology: Balance scale weights of Kinai
- NAKAO Tomoyuki
Abstract:
Examination and analysis were conducted for stone objects in the shape
of （balance） scale weights, including newly recovered unreported
materials, ascertained for the Kinai district subsequent to the
discovery of “Yayoi scale weights” at the Kamei site. Recovery
locations extend to the three regions of Kawachi, Izumi, and Yamato,
and their dates concentrate over the latter half of the Middle to the
first half of the Late Yayoi periods. The fact of balance scale weights
with the same characteristics of shape and standard units of mass being
recovered in a manner exceeding a single local region shows the sharing
of a high level of measurement technology in Kinai Yayoi society. In
this contribution, the identification, examination, and analysis of
balance scale weights were carried out using 8.67g as the smallest
denomination, calculated from the Kamei site data set as a reliable
example. Also, it was clarified that the discrepancy in mass with the
inferred denomination increased in progressive fashion for heavier
scale weights, and it was surmised that a variety of scales with
differing degrees of accuracy existed and were used in differential
fashion.
Keywords: Yayoi period; measurement technology; balance scale data; balance scale weights; standard units of mass.
- The Nikenzaike-haradagashira site and the Middle-Yayoi pottery chronology of western Gunma prefecture
- BABA Shin’ichiro
Abstract:
Excavations of the Nikenzaike-haradagashira site in Annaka city, Gunma
prefecture, revealed Middle-Yayoi pottery belonging to Kuribayashi,
Komatsu, and local types. This diverse pottery group, composed of a
significant amount of Kuribayashi 1-type pottery, illuminates the
nature of pre-Tatsumicho-type pottery, which has hitherto been
insufficiently understood. Meanwhile, the Komatsu-type pottery, which
is found mostly in the Hokuriku region, dates to Yokaichi-jikata phase
8. The discovery of both of these types of pottery at the
Nikenzaike-haradagashira site, which is located along the route
connecting the Chikuma river basin of Nagano prefecture and the Menuma
Lowlands of Saitama prefecture, suggests that several routes for
cultural interaction existed connecting the Hokuriku region and the
Kanto Plain through the Chikuma river basin. Additionally, through a
reevaluation of the existing research on Tatsumicho-type pottery, a
reformulation of the pottery chronology of western Gunma prefecture
from the Kuribayashi to Tatsumicho types, and the establishment of the
“Hamajiri-type” at the end of the Middle Yayoi period, the author
traces the development of pottery from the Kuribayashi through Hamajiri
types.
Keywords: Middle Yayoi period; western Gunma prefecture; Komatsu-type pottery; Kuribayashi-type pottery; Tatsumicho-type pottery.
RESEARCH NOTE
- Research on modern encampment hearths in Okinawa: Developing a framework of reference for archaeological study
- YAMASAKI Shinji
Abstract:
This study aims to develop a framework of reference to interpret
prehistoric human activities concerning hearths. For this purpose, a
research on modern encampment hearths was conducted. Two research areas
(Areas U and I) located at the northern part of Okinawa Island were
selected for this research. The form and size of each hearth, along
with the goods left with them, were recorded, and excavation of a
section was also conducted at some hearths. As a result, it is shown
that hearths of Area U have a firm structure and are estimated to have
been used repeatedly. Conversely, hearths of Area I are smaller in size
and the majority were estimated to have been used only once. The
differences between them may be due to different human activities around
the hearths and the cultural background of the hearth makers in each
area.
Keywords: modern; Okinawa; encampment; hearth; ethno-archaeology.
REPORTS, NEWS AND APPEALS
- Special feature: Archaeology in schools, Part 2
- Archaeology under the Public Security Preservation Law: Young researchers defying the times
- KIKUCHI Seiichi
- Issues surrounding the revision of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties
- SUGIMOTO Hiroshi
- Observation of the mausoleum of Emperor Suizei
- KITAYAMA Mineo
- Report of attendance at the observation of the western connecting bridge of the Saki-misasagiyama mounded tomb
- SEINO Takayuki
- Damage to cultural property in Okayama following the heavy rains of July 2018: the case of Mabi, Kurashiki city
- SAWADA Hidemi
BOOK REVIEW
- HARADA Motoki. Use-wear on stone agricultural tools in East
Asia
- MAKIBAYASHI Keisuke
- Concerning the review of my book (Archaeological research on the
remains of tsunami disasters) by BESSHO Hidetaka
- SAINO Hirohiko
NEW BOOK
- Jang Kyunghee (translated by JI Jcong Hi, MURAKAMI Kazuhiro, and
MATSUNAGA Yoshie). The museums of North Korea
- NISHITANI Tadashi
ARCHEO-FOCUS
- The Kitazono-ueno mounded tomb group in Minamata city, Kumamoto
prefecture
- Cultural Affairs Division, Education Administration Office,
Kumamoto Prefecture Education Bureau
- The Tsukura mounded tomb in Okayama city, Okayama prefecture
- Department of Archaeology, Okayama University
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