CONTENTS
Vol.67 No.1（265）, June 2020
SOCIETY NEWS
LETTER
- Infectious disease and archaeology
- HARUNARI Hideji (ed.)
ARTICLES
- Haniwa production of central tomb groups of the monarchy in the Middle Kofun period
- KIMURA Osamu
Abstract: The Mozu, Furuichi, Saki, and Umami tomb groups, where colossal keyhole-shaped tombs were built in the Middle Kofun period extending from the latter part of the fourth through the fifth centuries, are understood as ancestral tombs for the central members of the monarchy of that period. Also, concerning the manufacture of haniwa of these central tomb groups, it has been generally held that production was carried out from core bases centered on large-scale keyhole tombs.
With regard to this, the current contribution took up haniwa production for each of the central tomb groups of the monarchy and conducted a close analysis on the basis of tomb groups as units. As a result, (1) while basically confirming that core-based production centering on large-scale keyhole tombs was conducted over the early to middle portions of the Middle Kofun period (fifth century, first half), in the latter portion to the end of the period (fifth century, latter half) a shift over time trending towards individualized production can be discerned, and (2) in the first portion of the Middle Kofun period, rather than at the Mozu and Furuichi groups in unison, core-based production and the development of haniwa styles appear to have been advanced at the Furuichi and at the Saki tomb groups, thus clarifying that an imbalance can be recognized between tomb groups.
These observations tell that rather than the previous notion of haniwa production being uniform at tomb groups of the central monarchy in the Middle Kofun period, the system of production for haniwa differed between tomb groups and over time.
Keywords: Furuichi tomb group; Mozu tomb group; Saki tomb group; Umami tomb group; haniwa production
- Reading Kobayashi Yukio’s “Steam trains and folk houses”
- HARUNARI Hideji
Abstract: In 1934 Kobayashi Yukio, one of the representative archaeologists of the Shōwa era, published an essay titled “Steam trains and folk houses.” The contents depicted as a seriation graph the manner of change in the form of folk house roofs, observed through the train window along the national railways San’yō Line from Harima in western Hyōgo to Bizen in the eastern part of Okayama Prefecture, and explored the meaning of their regional transition. Since 1931 Kobayashi had been investigating the problem of the diffusion of Ongagawa-type ceramics, the oldest Yayoi pottery, from the northern Kyushu to the Kinki regions, for which he had also been mentally utilizing the method of seriation. Interest in folk houses and research into Ongagawa-type pottery thus came together in the mind of a researcher groping for solutions through the archaeological method. That method subsequently produced a great achievement in 1957 in the form of the preeminent article “The sphere of influence of the initial Yamato polity,” based on analyses of same-mold relations for triangular-rimmed mirrors and of stone arm ornaments of the Kofun period.
Keywords: history of archaeology; Kobayashi Yukio; folk houses; Ongagawa-type pottery; transition in diffusion
RESEARCH NOTES
- Inter-site variations in stone figurines of the Early Jomon period and their causes
- DENDA Yoshitaka
Abstract: In this paper, I investigate stone figurines excavated from the Nakazawa Site, Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture and the Higashiyougai shell mound, Osaki City, and clay figures excavated from the Natori City Izumi Site. A shape and pattern classification of stone figurines and clay figures was performed, and the shape was quantitatively understood and their tendencies were examined. As a result, it was clarified that in the Nakazawa ruins, even stone figurines with common morphological features had different contour shapes and their decorative patterns were different. As for the relationship between the sites, it became clear that there is a common decoration pattern, contour shape, and thickness between stone figurines and clay figurines. However, when looked at in detail, the stone figurines showed a difference in contour shape between the sites, while the clay figurines showed a strong commonality in the contour shape. This may be due to the difference between stone and clay as a raw material.
Keywords: Stone figurines; clay figurines; shape classification; decorative patterns; contour shape
- Balance scales of the Yayoi period seen from archaeological artifacts: Taking clues from Nakao Tomoyuki’s article
- HAYAMA Shigehide
Abstract: Nakao Tomoyuki’s article “Yayoi period measurement technology: Balance scale weights of Kinai” (Quarterly of Archaeological Studies vol. 65, no. 2) sought out similar examples in the Kinai region of “Yayoi balance weights” subsequent to their discovery by Morimoto Susumu, and discussed various issues relating to balance scale weights of the region. But there were some problems in the handling of quantitative data, and the current author also has different opinions regarding these matters. This contribution takes clues from Nakao’s article, and while interjecting the author’s own views, examines the standard units of mass, the system of units, the scales used in manufacturing balance weights, the purpose of weighing, and problems related to the weights discovered at the Kamei site, and presents a tentative view regarding balance scales of the Yayoi period.
Keywords: balance scales; weights; standard units of mass; system of units; purpose of weighing
REPORTS, NEWS AND APPEALS
- Mogi kofun: An experiment in site and artifact preservation and utilization, Part 1
- The in-situ preservation of historic sites and open-air display of archaeological sites: Principles and history
- TATEISHI Toru
- At the intersection of cultural properties and SDGs: Based on an examination of the iron objects stored in the National Museum of Sudan
- SEKIHIRO Naoyo
- Report of attendance at the observation of the Nobono mounded tomb group, Andon’yama mounded tomb’s outer bank, and Saki-ishizukayama mounded tomb
- NAKAKUBO Tatsuo, MIYOSHI Motoki and SEINO Takayuki
- “Regional Gathering to Reconsider and Protest against Japanese ‘Foundation Day’” in Okayama
- FURUICHI Hideharu
BOOK REVIEWS
- MINAMI Kentaro. Mirrors in East Asia and Yayoi society
- JITSUMORI Yoshihiko
- TSUJITA Jun’ichiro. The ancient history of mirrors
- ISHIMURA Tomo
- AOYAMA Kazuo, et al (eds.). Comparative study of civilizations in the ancient Americas: Past and present in Mesoamerica and the Andes
- SUZUKI Shintaro
NEW BOOKS
- MIGISHIMA Kazuo (supervising editor), AOYAGI Taisuke, et al (eds.). The archaeology of horses
- TANAKA Yuri
- KABATA Shigeru. An illustrated guide to the Maya civilization
- ICHIKAWA Akira
ARCHEO-FOCUS
- Excavation and recognition of the large Han-style tomb at Phap Co mountain, Hai Phong city, Vietnam
- HUANG Xiao-fen
- Excavation of the site below the main building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima city
- KUNOGI Keita