Revelations in Japanese Archaeology

This volume compiles significant articles from the BSEAA, updated for this volume. It covers the Japanese Paleolithic, protohistoric Yayoi and Kofun periods, and the beginnings of Japanese archaeology, offering new perspectives on cultural transmission, subsistence practices, and centralized societies.

Revelations in Japanese Archaeology presents a selection of articles from the BSEAA (Bulletin of the Society for East Asian Archaeology). All articles represent important research questions that have retained their relevance to the present day. Many have been updated for inclusion in this volume. Especially important are the chapters on the Japanese Paleolithic, with data presented in Part I to counter the devastating impact of the ‘Paleolithic Hoax’ uncovered in 2000. These are crucial to re-evaluating the peopling of the Japanese Islands in the Pleistocene and the relationships with continental finds. Part II focuses on the protohistoric periods of Yayoi and Kofun in Japan, with an additional perspective on adjacent regions and intercultural relations in the macro-region during the Iron Age. Unlike mainstream treatments, these articles tend to deal with peripheral regions that are important as cultural transmitters between islands and between island and mainland. They provide different perspectives on the development of dominant subsistence practices and centralized societies. Part III returns to the beginnings of Japanese archaeology, with a history as deep as that in Britain, by elucidating the work of Edward S. Morse. The editors are leaders in the field of Japanese Archaeology, covering periods from the Palaeolithic (Ikawa-Smith), Yayoi (Seyock), and Kofun (Barnes). They have been seminal in the development of the Society for East Asian Archaeology (SEAA), which aims at the dissemination of research in East Asian languages to the English-speaking world. The Society was founded by Barnes, who served together with Ikawa-Smith as Presidents, while Seyock initiated the Bulletin of Society for East Asian Archaeology (BSEAA) and served as Editor. Ikawa-Smith and Barnes are both Professor Emeritae after long careers teaching at their respective universities, while Seyock is an Independent Researcher who has worked closely with archaeologists in Japan throughout her career.

Preface – By Barbara Seyock and Gina L. Barnes

Part I. The Early Paleolithic in Japan

1. Starting Over Again: Introductory Remarks – by Ikawa-Smith Fumiko 井川史子

2. The Early Paleolithic Industry at Sōzudai Site, Ōita Prefecture – by Yanagida Toshio 柳田俊

3. Lithic Assemblage from the Lowest Layer of Ōno Site, Hitoyoshi, Southern Kyūshū – by Wada Yoshifumi 和田好史

4. Investigation of the Kanedori Site in Iwate Prefecture, Northern Honshū – by Kuroda Atsushi 黒田篤史, Kikuchi Kyōichi 菊池強一, Komukai Hiroaki 小向裕明, and Takeda Yoshio 武田良夫

5. Research Progress and Methodological Contribution of Sunabara Site: from sedimentological excavation to phenocryst microscopic observation method – by Uemine Atsushi 上峯篤史 and Matsufuji Kazuto 松藤和人

6. Recent Research on the Early and Middle Paleolithic in Japan: an overview – by Satō Hiroyuki 佐藤宏之

Part II. Island Interactions and Socio-Political Development

7. Introduction to Island Interactions in the Protohistoric Period – by Gina L. Barnes and Barbara Seyock

8. A Comment on the Yayoi Period Dating Controversy – by Shōda Shin’ya 庄田慎矢

9. Karakami—A Yayoi Site on Iki Island – by Jane Oksbjerg

10. Prehistoric Interaction between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago through Tsushima and Iki Islands – by Miyamoto Kazuo 宮本一夫

11. Tsushima as ‘Boundary’ – by Tawara Kanji 俵寛司

12. Jeju Island as a Case Study in Ancient Island-Mainland Interaction – by Barbara Seyock

13. Changes in the Spatial Distribution of Obsidian from Kōzushima in the Yayoi Period – by Sugiyama Cohe 杉山浩平

14. Archaeological Research in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia – by Stephen Chia

15. The Change in the Distribution System of Bronze Mirrors at the Beginning of Kofun period Japan: as seen from fragmented bronze mirrors – by Tsujita Jun’ichirō 辻田淳一郎

16. The 2007 Excavation at Shōbuzako Kofun – by Jane Oksbjerg

Part III. Classical Western Writings on Japanese Archaeology and Anthropology

17. Comments on Two Essays on Japanese Archaeology written by Edward S. Morse – by Michael Moos

18. Traces of an Early Race in Japan, by Edward S. Morse reprint, annotations – by Michael Moos

19. Dolmens in Japan, Edward S. Morse reprint, annotations – by Michael Moos

Barbara Seyock is a specialist in trade and exchange in prehistoric and historical East Asia. She received her doctorate in 2003 from the University of Tubingen on the archaeology and history of the “Eastern Barbarians” (proto-historical cultures in Korea and Japan). Her research focuses on early cultural transfer around the Korea Strait as well as trade and maritime exchange in pre-modern times in East and Southeast Asia.She has lectured on East Asian archaeology at the Dept. of Archaeology, Ruhr-University of Bochum and was a member of the VW-Project on “the East Asian Mediterranean” at Munich University. Gina L. Barnes, PhD Michigan 1983. Taught East Asian Archaeology at Cambridge University 1981-1995 and at Durham University 1996-2006. She founded the East Asian Archaeology Network in 1990, which became the Society for East Asian Archaeology in 1996, serving as the first President (1996-1998). Her publications include State Formation in Korea (Routledge 2001), State Formation in Japan (2006), East Asian Archaeology (Routledge, 2015), TephroArchaeology (ed. with SODA Tsutomu, Archaeopress 2019), and Tectonic Archaeology (Archaeopress 2022). Born in Japan, Fumiko Ikawa-Smith began her study of Anthropology in the USA as a Fulbright exchange student at Harvard University. She received doctorate in 1974 with a dissertation on the Early Palaeolithic cultures of Japan. It has remained the focus of her research interest, as she explored such topics as food and nutrition, gender in prehistory, and social contexts of archaeology. She is a co-founder of the Japan Studies Association of Canada, and served as its President three times.

• Edited by Barbara Seyock
• Edited by Gina L. Barnes
• Edited by Fumiko Ikawa-Smith