会誌『考古学研究』

CONTENTS

Vol.67　No.4（268）, March 2021

ARTICLES

• Utilization of Japanese deer and its temporal variation over the Late and Final Jōmon: Centering on the Sendai Bay and Sanriku coastal regions
• YAMADA Rintarō
  Abstract: This paper examines the utilization, and its change over time, of Japanese deer from the Late to Final phases of the Jōmon period through an analysis of the Satohama, Nakasawame, and Tagara shell middens located in Miyagi Prefecture. Based on that analysis, bone and antler tools and materials were numerous at the Satohama shell midden throughout the Late to Final Jōmon, increasing both in numbers and variety in the Final phase. By contrast, at the Nakasawame shell midden bone and antler tools and materials were few in number. Considering the regional relations of these sites, it is argued that materials for bone and antler implements were being supplied from the interior, where the Nakasawame shell midden is located, to the Sendai Bay area, where the Satohama shell midden is situated. Also, it is possible that the increase in the number of interior settlements in the Final Jōmon supported a greater supply of these materials, resulting in the increased amounts of bone and antler tools and materials for that phase at the Satohama shell midden.

  Keywords: Jōmon period; Tōhoku region; Japanese deer; trade; shell middens

RESEARCH NOTES

• “String sawing technique” seen in the splitting of large beads
• KURISHIMA Yoshiaki
  Abstract: Among the large jade beads that are widely distributed over eastern Japan for the Middle Jōmon period, there are a small number of items that have been split. As a point in common for these split materials, they are the product of dividing whole beads into equal portions, and instead of using a stone tool for cutting by abrasion, the technique of abrasive cutting with the fine fibers of string or cord was employed. In the northern portion of the Tōhoku region there are examples of very hard jade material that was split evenly by slicing in horizontal fashion, and from the split surface it can be discerned that the technique of cutting with string had been adopted. Also, among the large amber beads that are widely distributed over the Kantō and Chūbu regions there are scattered examples of split items, and on some of these as well there are clear traces remaining of striations from when they were cut with string.
  　The intentional splitting of large beads made not only of soft amber, but also from jade having a hardness scale value of 7, is a matter of great interest. It has now become clear that in splitting these items it was not only the previously known abrasive stone saws, but a technology using plant fibers in string or cord that was also employed. While the splitting of hard material with string may be a bit surprising, if we consider the work of cutting by repetitive motion with an abrasive enmeshed within a bundle of fibers, in actuality it is most probably a very effective technique. In the future we need to look for a wider range of situations where it may have been applied. It will also be necessary, as a topic for future research, to pursue the significance of dividing large beads, precious accessories which may also be regarded as items of significant social wealth, into equal portions having the same shape and volume.

  Keywords: large beads; jade; amber; string sawing; equal division
• The process of transformation of Mumun pottery and Yayoi pottery
• YAMASAKI Yorito
  Abstract: In Japan, Mumun pottery known by the label “Korean-style Mumun pottery,” and pottery that transformed from contact between Yayoi pottery and Mumun pottery, known by the label “pseudo-Korean-style Mumun pottery,” have previously been treated mainly in terms of the evolution of Mumun pottery into Yayoi pottery. However, this analysis alone is insufficient, as perspectives from both sides are needed for the examination of Japanese-Korean exchange.
  　As a result of analysis centering on pots, in Japan it is seen that Mumun pottery did not simply transform unilaterally under the influence of Yayoi pottery, but that Yayoi pottery also received influence from Mumun pottery and transformed; in the Korean peninsula, as well, it is clear that Yayoi pottery did not simply receive influence from Mumun pottery, but Mumun pottery was also receiving influence from Yayoi pottery.
  　The author proposes that we understand the “lines of derivation” of Yayoi and Mumun pottery by assessing that in Japan there is Mumun pottery (Suseokri-style and Neukdo-style pottery, etc.) and Mumun-derived pottery (transformed Mumun and transformed Yayoi pottery, in addition to pottery that has possibly received Mumun influence), and that in Korea there is Yayoi pottery (Itazuke-style, Jōnokoshi-style, Sugu-style pottery, etc.) and Yayoi-derived pottery (transformed Yayoi and transformed Mumun pottery, in addition to pottery that has possibly received Yayoi influence).

  Keywords: Interaction between Japan and Korea; process of transformation; Mumun-derived pottery; Yayoi-derived pottery
• Sedentary agriculture and social complexity in Mesoamerica
• AOYAMA Kazuo
  Abstract: This article discusses sedentary agriculture and social complexity in Mesoamerica. First, it presents an overview of Mesoamerican civilizations and preceramic horticulture, as well as ceramic pottery, sedentary agriculture, and social complexity. It also reviews recent articles by Kennett et al. (2017, 2020) on possible early evidence for the use of maize as a staple grain in Mesoamerica. New archaeological investigations in the Maya lowlands, such as Archaic remains from non-cave sites in northern Belize, Ceibal in Guatemala, and Aguada Fénix in Mexico, can provide useful information on the intrinsically important and interesting issues associated with the development of social complexity and the origins of civilizations, not only in Mesoamerica but also in the rest of the world, by examining the transition from the preceramic (Archaic) period to the Preclassic (ceramic) period.

  Keywords: Mesoamerica; ceramic pottery; sedentary agriculture; social complexity
• Regional production and lineal divergence of Naqadan wavy-handled jars
• TAKENOUCHI Keita
  Abstract: The direct lineal sequence of transformation from wavy-handled to cylindrical jars, which has been assumed a priori to hold broadly during the Pre- and Early Dynastic period, needs to be analyzed for particular sites and regions. The results of this examination of regional trends clearly indicates that a development toward a long-bodied form distinct from cylindrical jars emerged in Lower Egypt during Naqada IID-IIIA. Moreover, the Tarkhan cemeteries have yielded different designs of wavy-handled jars from IIIA2. These different types may reflect the local production of wavy-handled jars in Lower Egypt, especially in the Fayum area during this period.

  Keywords: early state formation; wavy-handled jars; lineal relationships; local production

REPORTS, NEWS AND APPEALS

• One year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Activities of the Standing Committee of the Society
• Standing Committee of the Society
• On the rejection of candidate nominations to the Science Council of Japan: Part two
• Standing Committee of the Society
• On the statement by the Standing Committee of the Society concerning the rejection of candidate nominations to the Science Council of Japan
• KIKUCHI Seiichi
• Observation of the Uwanabe mounded tomb in Nara Prefecture
• NAKAKUBO Tatsuo

BOOK REVIEWS

• MARUYAMA Kōji. TephroArchaeology and ancient society: The Towada eruption and Emishi and Ritsuryō society
• KUWAHATA Mitsuhiro
• OKADERA Ryo. Structures of castles in Sengoku-period North Kyūshū
• NAKAI Hitoshi

NEW BOOKS

• SAITŌ Naruya (ed.). The latest DNA research reveals the origins of the Japanese people
• FUNAHASHI Kyōko
• IWAMOTO Takashi. Triangle-rimmed deity-and-beast mirrors and Kofun-period society
• MURASE Riku

ARCHEO-FOCUS

• Religious architecture at San Bartolo, Petén, Guatemala
• Boris BELTRÁN (translated by SUZUKI Shintaro)
• La Beleña (Cabra, Córdoba): a new Late Neolithic cemetery in Southern Iberia
• María Dolores CAMALICH MASSIEU et al. (translated by SUZUKI Shintaro)

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