Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

For the past several decades, rapidly increasing amounts of excavation data and new interpretations have characterized Japanese archaeology. Numerous rescue excavations throughout the Japanese archipelago during and after the 1970s have produced a large body of archaeological data, based on which scholars can test new hypotheses and assert the importance of studying the past. Interest in archaeology among the general public is strong. The flip side of the popularity of Japanese archaeology is a large-scale destruction of many important archaeological sites. It is also clear that there will be fewer rescue excavations in the future. With these sociopolitical contexts in mind, the 2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Sponsored Symposium highlights new developments and challenges in Japanese archaeology and evaluates its contribution to the international scene. Papers presented in this session present new data and interpretations and address the questions of the relevance of archaeological studies in contemporary Japanese society. The session also proposes how archaeologists working on Japan might engage themselves with current sociopolitical and environmental concerns through their research. Case studies include those dealing with the Paleolithic, Jomon, Yayoi, Kofun and later historic periods. Geographic coverage includes from Hokkaido to the Ryukyu Islands.

Other Keywords
Landscape Archaeology • Neolithic • historical ecology • Hunter-Gatherers/Foragers • figurines • History Of Archaeology • Mortuary Analysis • Paleoethnobotany • Craft Production • Legacy Data

Geographic Keywords
Kyrgyz Republic (Country) • Japan (Country) • Asia (Continent) • Mongolia (Country) • Republic of India (Country) • People's Republic of Bangladesh (Country) • Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Country) • Union of Myanmar (Country) • People's Republic of China (Country) • Republic of Korea (Country)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-11 of 11)

  • Documents (11)
Documents
  • Changing Perspectives for the Palaeolithic Research of the Japanese Archipelago (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Fumiko Ikawa-Smith.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Apart from sporadic finds of human bones and artifacts, systematic research on the Palaeolithic began in Japan with the Iwajuku excavation in 1949. In spite of the relatively short history of 70 years, and the negative impact of the "Fujimura Scandal" of 2000, which resulted in nullification of...

  • Collapse, or Drastic Socio-cultural Transformation?: Some Cases from Japanese Prehistory (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Koji Mizoguchi.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper proposes to redefine 'collapse' as a type of human responses to changes that happen to the (variously perceived, experienced and utilized) environment in which we live. It is argued that the phenomena commonly termed as 'collapses', such as the disintegration of settlement systems and the...

  • From the Earthly to the Celestial: Material Culture and Funerary Practice at Fujinoki Kofun (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Carl Gellert.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 1985, archaeologists excavating Fujinoki Kofun opened for the first time the tomb’s sealed burial chamber. They were surprised to discover that not only had the site been undisturbed by tomb robbers, but that it contained one of the most lavish collections of grave-goods to have been recovered...

  • Historical Ecology and Archaeometallurgy on the 5th and 6th century Osaka Plain (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Scott Lyons.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Extensive excavation records and legacy materials provide ample opportunities for novel research in Japan. This project seeks to open and demonstrate new avenues of inquiry using legacy data and previously excavated materials related to well-studied topics by linking environmental change to the...

  • Long-Term Perspectives on the Resilience of Food and Socioeconomic Systems in Prehistoric Japan: Examples from the Early and Middle Jomon Periods (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Junko Habu.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper argues that the examination of rich archaeological data from the Jomon period of prehistoric Japan can contribute to the recent discussion of the resilience of food and socioeconomic systems. Theories of resilience which consider the importance of adaptive cycles and panarchical...

  • New Approaches to Jomon Dogu: Case Studies from Eastern and Western Japan (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Liliana Janik.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents a study of the clays used in the manufacture of ceramic figurines, or dogu, from the Jomon period of Japanese archaeology. Analyses of clays in dogu from sites in Niigata (eastern Honshu) and Okayama (western Honshu) using a handheld XRF machine will be discussed in the context of...

  • New Research Directions in the Archaeology and Linguistic History of the Hokkaido Ainu (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Gary Crawford. John Whitman.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Research in Hokkaido since the 1980s has amassed a body of data related to ancestral Ainu material culture, settlement, chronology, and subsistence. Palaeoethnobotanical data have been instrumental in conceptualizing the Satsumon and Ainu as populations with a complex history that included dry-field...

  • Stories from the Riverside: Metastability in the Shinano-Chikuma River System, Central Japan (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Simon Kaner.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper discusses the significance of the archaeology of the Shinano and Chikuma River system, the longest drainage in Japan, an area of very high environmental activity, situated on the Fossa Magna. The paper focuses on the Jomon period, when the region had the highest density of early ceramic...

  • The Study of Excavated Documents in Japan (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Marjorie Burge.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Traditional understandings of the history of writing in Japan have been both greatly enriched and substantially challenged by materials recovered from archaeological excavations. In particular, the continued recovery from archaeological contexts of the inscribed wooden documents known as mokkan has...

  • A Study of the Armor Production System in the Middle Kofun Period (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kazuaki Yoshimura.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Possessing complex three-dimensional structures, and created using the most advanced technologies, including technologies introduced from the Korean Peninsula, the armor of the Kofun Period in Japan represents the finest iron technology of that period. It is commonly accepted that armor was produced...

  • Transition from Hunting-Gathering to Agriculture in Amami and Okinawa Archipelagos, Japan (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kaishi Yamagiwa. Hiroto Takamiya.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeological research in Amami and Okinawa archipelagos in the southwestern part of Japan started more than one hundred years ago. One of the most important archaeological themes in this region has been when food production began here. Archaeologists have agreed that the subsistence economy of the...