Archaeological Study of Sources of Slate Stone Clubs From the Late to Final Jomon of Central Hokkaido

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Slate stone clubs created as prestige technologies were frequently found in shuteibo (a type of communal cemetery characterized by a circular embankments constructed in the latter half of the Late Jomon of central Hokkaido) burials suggesting that they were regalia of the dead. This paper explores sources of the stone clubs to better understanding trade networks of these artifacts and the Late Jomon political economy. To do so, 1) this research conducted reconnaissance of stone raw materials in the southern Kitagami Plateau in the Tohoku region, which is well-known for its fine slates, and 2) examine techniques of the stone club production processes at production sites in the Plateau. Similarities of raw materials and techniques used for slate stone clubs between the Plateau and central Hokkaido suggest that many of these stone clubs were imported from the Plateau via long-distance trades as part of prestige economy. Such trade goods could be used to enhance and reinforce the status of elites as part of an aggrandizer strategy. Trade involving these stone clubs among elites associated with rituals and feasts probably accelerated a high degree of interaction between regional groups in Tohoku and central Hokkaido.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39184.0