"NIHON KÔKOGAKU" 18 Abstracts
[A] : Article, [RT] : Research Trends, [PR] : Preliminary Excavation Report, [BR] : Book Review
| [A] | Koji Mizoguchi | 
A treaties of the change of archaeological material culture : a social archaeological framework | 1-19 |
|---|---|---|---|
| [A] | Ryuzo Fujiyama |
A Reconsideration of Stone Point Assemblages | 21-36 |
| [A] | Satoshi Fujiwara | Tactics In Fighting During the Yayoi Period | 37-52 |
| [A] | Yoshinori Tajiri |
A Theory of the Production System of Yayoi-Period Continental-Type Small Mirrors Manufactured in Japan | 53-72 |
| [A] | Hiroki Aoyama |
The Ideology Behind Jars with Perforated Bases | 73-92 |
| [A] | Yoshihiko Ogasawara |
Yamato Kidera (Koyama Abandoned Temple): Its Characteristics and the Family who Constructed It | 93-109 |
| [A] | Yasuo Ide |
The Emishi society and the Trade system in the northern Tohoku district | 111-130 |
| [A] | Masamitsu Mamiya |
Medieval Stone Cave-Chambers of the Noto Peninsula | 131-148 |
| [RT] | Katsunori Takase |
The Etiquette of the "Uncivilized": Prehistoric Research in the Northeast of theJapanese Archipelago | 149-158 |
| [PR] | Yoshimitsu Inoue |
The Result of Excavations at the Suyama Kofun | 159-170 |
| [PR] | Yoshiyuki Aihara |
The Results and Significance of Excavations at the Sakafuneishi Site | 171-180 |
| [PR] | Ei'ichi Nagashima |
The Results of Excavations at the Koriyama Site, Sendai: An Administrative Site(Kanga) from the Time of the Establishment of Mutsu Province | 181-194 |
| [PR] | Hiroyuki Yoshida |
Excavations at the Jingamine Castle Site | 195-204 |
| [BR] | Masaharu Yoda |
The Excavations at Jingokamezuka and Their Significance A Review of Jingokamezuka Kofun | 205-207 |
A treaties of the change of archaeological material culture: a social archaeological framework
Koji MizoguchiThis paper investigates as to how the change of archaeological material culture can better be understood. In theorising the mechanism of the change of archaeological material culture, an especial focus is located not upon mental phenomena, which cannot be directly observed from the outside, but upon communication which can be directly observed as the minimum basic component of social phenomena and whose material traces can also be observed archaeologically. A falsifiable causal model of the change of archaeological material culture is proposed, in which the co-transformation of a communication system and its environment, i. e., a horizon of complexity to be articulated and reduced through communication, is treated as a crucial factor. The applicability of the model is examined by investigating the change of the spatial structure of the commoners' jar-burial cemeteries of the northern Kyushu region between the Yayoi III and IV phases. The processual and cognitive approaches to the issue are critically examined by drawing upon the outcomes of the study.
It has been argued that the change of the spatial structure of the commoners' jar-burial cemeteries between the Yayoi III and IV phases can be understood as a consequence of a shift from the communication concerning the maintenance of the sense of communality to that concerning the expression of individual genealogical continuity. It has been concluded that the analytical framework focussing upon the operation of communication systems can holistically treat and explain the co-transformation of a wide range of the sub-systems constituting a society as a whole.
Key words:
Yayoi period, northern Kyushu region, change, communication, theory of social systems
A Reconsideration of Stone Point Assemblages
Ryuzo FujiyamaThe aim of this paper is to attempt a reconsideration of the characteristics of stone point assemblages. It has been argued that these tools marked a big change in lithic production, including the consumption of raw materials. For this reason, stone point assemblages can be considered to relate to important questions in lithic studies. There has thus been considerable interest in stone points among prehistorians.
The current paper focuses on tool use within stone point assemblages. This marks a shift from existing perspectives on how the tools were made, to an emphasis on how they were used. An examination of tool maintenance within stone point assemblages demonstrated a common trend within these assemblages toward a monotonous assemblage composition with a scarcity of finishing tools. Based on this analysis of tool maintenance, the function of the stone points was also reconsidered. From their use-wear and excavational contexts, it is argued that these points had a range of functions. Points were not just used as projectiles for hunting, but also served as processing and finishing tools.
The question of tool use within stone point assemblages was thus brought to the surface through these analyses. It was proposed that the limited types and quantity of maintenance tools within these assemblages suggest that the points themselves carried an important functional status. This functionally-concentrated pattern of tool use within stone point assemblages represents a different tool use strategy from that found in other lithic assemblages. It is thus possible to consider stone points as forming a unique pattern of tool use within prehistoric lithic assemblages.
Key words:
Paleolithic, Jomon, east Japan, stone points, tool use, function
A Theory of the Production System of Yayoi-Period Continental-Type Small Mirrors Manufactured in Japan
Yoshinori TajiriThis paper uses small, locally-produced continental type mirrors excavated mainly from north Kyushu in order to develop new perspectives on the traditional unitary theory of the bronze production system in Yayoi Japan.
Previous excavations and research have shown that bronze working was being carried out at the Suku site cluster in north Kyushu. As Suku seems to have been the center of this bronze working, it has been assumed that production and distribution were being managed from there. Many casting molds, which must serve as proof of bronze working, have, however, been found at other sites surrounding the Suku cluster. The aim of this paper is to clarify the relationship between these surrounding bronze production sites and the Suku cluster.
Small, locally-produced continental mirrors were chosen as the object of analysis here because they are one of the few decorated bronzes found in north Kyushu. The presence of decoration permits the analysis of many attributes, enabling us to reconstruct the relationship between mirrors made in the same mold and the order in which they were produced.
This paper develops mirror types using the decoration on the back of the mirrors and then examines the distribution of the types. As a result, it was possible to distinguish phases when there were differences in the distribution of types and phases when the distribution was even. The production and circulation systems of small, locally-produced continental mirrors were then examined based on these differences. In phases when a great variety of decorations are recognized, casting molds are found at sites beyond the Suku cluster and it was concluded that both production and circulation were decentralized. In phases when mirror types with standardized, uniform designs were produced, molds are also found at the Suku cluster suggesting a concentrated form of production. This implies that the production and management of bronzes was not always stable. Furthermore, an analysis of the quantity of mirrors showed that it is highly likely that at the end of the Yayoi, bronze production had decreased even under the concentrated system of production.
Key words:
Small imitativc mirrors, Distibution, Manufacture system
The Ideology Behind Jars with Perforated Bases
Hiroki AoyamaTsubo jars with perforated bases are mainly excavated from kofun tombs of the Early phase, but for what purpose were they placed on the tombs and what type of rituals were performed with them? This paper examines Kofun rituals using these perforated jars and attempts to interpret their meaning. From changes in perforated jar rituals it is first shown that a small number of decorated jars with broken bases had originally been placed on kofun. From the viewpoint of farming rituals in the rice growing regions of East Asia, it is then argued that the belief that the grain spirit lives in jars used to store seeds is widely distributed in various forms. It is possible that a similar belief existed in the Japanese Islands from the Yayoi period onwards and it can thus be assumed that the jar was an artifact with a close connection to agricultural rituals based on beliefs regarding grain spirits. It is argued that the use of jars in mortuary ceremonies was aimed at transferring the grain spirit to a successor by smashing or perforating the jar where that spirit was thought to reside. This in turn would suggest that those persons buried in the kofun performed ritual controls over agriculture.
Key words:
Late Yayoi-Early Kofun periods, Japan, rituals, ceramics
Yamato Kidera (Koyama Abandoned Temple): Its Characteristics and the Family who Constructed It
Yoshihiko OgasawaraKidera, also known as the Koyama abandoned temple, is a late 7th century Buddhist temple constructed in the Asuka region of Yamato, As this temple is located in the Kitera district of Asuka, it has been assumed that it was built by the Ki clan, The temple is mentioned in the Shoku-Nihongi in an entry that describes the release of slaves from Kidera, From this entry it is assumed that the temple was built at Asuka in the emperor Tenchi era and the zigzag-edged multi-petal lotus leaf round eave tiles at this temple are known as the "Kidera type",
This Kidera type eave tile was used for the temple of one clan but was also noticeable on the ancient mountain temples of the Kinai and was furthermore widely used for many provincial temples, It has been suggested that the wide distribution of these tiles makes it difficult to regard the Kidera as the temple of one clan and that it may have been an official temple, the Takechi Odera, Several excavations at Kidera, however, have shown that it was built following the grid of the Fujiwara Capital, From the fact that its construction does not date back before the establishment of the Fujiwara grid in Tenmu 5 (AD 676), the role of the Ki clan in erecting the Kidera temple has to be reconsidered,
An old type of the Kidera eave tiles used for Kidera temple was used during the construction of the Oyake abandoned temple in Ymashiro, As the mold used for casting the roof tiles of Oyake temple was later taken to the Fujiwara Capital tile kiln, Oyake is seen as a Fujiwara clan temple, Moreover, the Kumedera temple in Asuka, which has tiles from the same mold as those found at the Kofukuji temple built by the Fujiwara clan in the Heijo Capital, was used to supply eave tiles for the Fujiwara Palace, showing that these two Fujiwara temples were closely connected with the production of roof tiles for the Fujiwara Palace, During the construction of Kidera, which was closely connected with the Oyake temple, a round eave tile mold was brought from the government tile kiln at Fujiwara Palace and this temple also has to be reconsidered as having been erected by the Fujiwara, Based on Toshio Kishi's reconstruction of the Fujiwara Capital, Kidera was built in grid 8, column 2 (8 jo, 2 bo) of the Left Capital, and was thus almost in the mirror position of Moto-Yakushiji temple at 8 jo, 3 bo in the Right Capital, Moto-Yakushiji was a temple that the emperor Tenmu pledged to erect in 680(Tenmu 9⁄11⁄12) for the recovery of empress Uno when she became seriously ill, Fourteen days later the emperor himself became ill and it can be assumed that in place of the princess the Fujiwara clan pledged a temple construction, For this reason it can be imagined that in the Fujiwara Capital, the Kidera (Koyama abandoned temple) was built in the eastern Left Capital for emperor Tenmu and the Moto-Yakushiji temple was erected in the western Right Capital,
The zigzag-edged eight-petal lotus leaf round eaves tiles used during the construction of Kidera used a design based on the prototype of eave tiles at the Kuzugami abandoned temple in Hirakata City, This is thought to be the clan temple of Kawachi Umakai who were connected with the education of the empress Uno, thus suggesting the heavy involvement of empress Uno at Kidera,
Key words:
Kinai region, Asuka era, temples, roof tiles, Fujiwara clan, empress Uno
The Emishi society and the trade system in the northern Tohoku district
Yasuo IdeThe image in which the Honshu Emishi group was formed by reference historical records until now has been made. It was rare to study an EMISHI group's special characteristic by archaeology. Moreover, the problem is left behind also about the relation between the Honshu Emishi group and an ancient state, or the aspect of exchange. Therefore, in this paper, it aimed at what is solved archaeologically about the cultural exchange with the Emishi group of the northern Tohoku district, and an ancient state. And it tried to clarify also about the special feature of Emishi society. And it tried to solve also about the special feature of Emishi society.
By the distribution of remains and the analysis of the structure of a settlement and manufacturing technique in the Tohoku district, development of the Honshu Emishi society became clear.Sue-ware manufacturing technique and iron manufacturing technique are introduced in the Honshu Emishi society in the second half of the 9th century. Between the Emishi group and the ancient state, culture was shared by movement of people and monochrome also in the first half of the 9th century. However, the iron production managed by the ancient state was not introduced in the Honshu Emishi society.
Then Since Satumon excavates in Emishi society, the aspect which exchange activated centering on the Tsugaru district is shown about the middle of the 10th century.
Change of the Emishi society on and after such the second half of the 9th century has pointed out relation with a trade system. It is thought that the trade system in the 8.9th century changed to the new system which the EMISHI group of Tsugaru makes an intermediary ignited by the production in Emishi society. It is thought that the trade system in the 8.9th century changed with introduction of the manufacturing technique in Emishi society to the new system which the Emishi group of Tsugaru makes an intermediary. And by participation to trade, it came to have the peculiarity of the Honshu Emishi culture.
Key words:
ancient state, northern Tohoku district, Emishi society, trade system
Medieval Stone Cave-Chambers of the Noto Peninsula
Masamitsu MamiyaMedieval stone cave-chambers similar to the yagura of Kamakura are known from the Noto Peninsula. The objectives of this paper are to describe these chambers, compare them with the yagura, and examine the historical factors behind their appearance.
Five cave-chambers are known from the Noto Peninsula, including possible examples and those which reuse former side-chamber tombs. They were mainly constructed from the second quarter of the 14th century through to the 15th century and thus they do not date to the time of the florescence of the city of Kamakura, representing instead the end of cave-chamber construction in Japan. With respect to structure, there are no differences from the yagura and they had been considered as very similar features. Analysis of the interior and burial features, however, has shown that compared to yagura of the same size, the interior of the cave-chambers was large and decorations representing a gabled roof were placed above the outer entrance.
As regards the persons who constructed these cave-chambers, they tend to be located in areas where temples of esoteric Buddhism or Zen temples of the Rinzai sect had a strong influence. It can thus be imagined that persons linked with the Ritsu or Rinzai sects were involved. That few of these chambers were built suggests a group with a shared burial ethos and the fact that they are concentrated in the area around Himi in Toyama Prefecture where the Rinzai sect spread its teachings is also suggestive.
Reviewing the historical causes for the construction of cave-chambers on the Noto Peninsula, these chambers mainly appear after the fall of the Kamakura bakufu and it is argued that with the weakening of the influence of Shingon and the increase in the power of Zen and Pure Land Buddhism, a burial system based was established based on the yagura of Kamakura through the medium of a broad-scale transportation network centered on ports and harbors. While the yagura had had close links with temples as part of an overall religious spatial structure, the decorated and functionally spacious cave-chambers of the Noto Peninsula were themselves each creations of religious space.
Keywords:
Middle Ages, Japan, burials, Buddhism
The Etiquette of the "Uncivilized": Prehistoric Research in the Northeast of the Japanese Archipelago
Katsunori TakaseIn prehistoric research, a view that evaluates the relative merits of diachronic as well as synchronic diversity has a strong probability of remaining even if it does not reveal the past. There are always regions that do not fit such evaluations and it is still a major unresolved problem as to how one should consider the history of such regions while excluding prejudice, discrimination and one-sided interpretations. Here I summarize an etiquette for discourse on the "uncivilized" and note points that differ from research on "civilization".
The first point in approaching the "uncivilized" is how to distance oneself from the framework of the history of a particular nation. Furthermore, against the wide acceptance of a history centered on "civilization", a critical stance is needed which questions theory that only fits with "civilization". Without such a stance, it is very difficult to derive a fair historical interpretation of the "uncivilized" which is buried in a viewpoint centered on "civilization".
When considering the "uncivilized", it is important to pay sufficient attention to the quantitative as well as the qualitative aspects of material culture, and to derive interpretations not based on the genealogy of objects, but which include analyses of practical and social function within each location and chronological stage. Such analyses can also be used for "civilization", but it is particularly important to take sufficient care to consider them when examining the "uncivilized".
Key words:
Yayoi, Epi-Jomon, northern Japan, civilization, historiography
The Result of Excavations at the Suyama Kofun
Yoshimitsu InoueSuyama Kofun has long been known as one of the large keyhole-shaped tombs, which were built in the west part of the Nara basin at the begining of the middle Kofun period. It has also received attention as the main mound of the Umami kofun cluster. The legal preservation was begun before W.W.II. The tomb was designated as a historic site in showa 2,and as a special historic site in showa 27. Until recently, however, a full-scale investigation of the tomb had not been conducted. Our knowledge had been mainly based on a simple topographic survey and surface collection of haniwa fragments.
Koryo Board of Education bought the mound and the bank in order to protect this historic site. The foot of the mound and the bank had been eroded by water, and the cylindrical haniwa line buried in the first mound had been exposed.
Since Heisei 12, regular detailed topographic surveys have been conducted as a part of works undertaken to protect this historic site.
Key words:
Kofun period, kinki region, keyhole-shaped tombs, haniwa
The Results and Significance of Excavations at the Sakafuneishi Site
Yoshiyuki AiharaThe Sakafuneishi site has been noted as the site that appears in the entry for the second year of Empress Saimei (AD 656) in the Nihon Shoki. As a result of excavations so far, it has been concluded that the site is related to imperial rituals, possessing a hill-top stone wall and a turtle-shaped stone tank on the north side which were built in the reign of Saimei and then used until the reigns of Tenmu and Jito. In the eastern area of this site there are a series of features including a canal (known as the "mad canal" in the Nihon Shoki) for transporting sandstone and the western area is thought to have been the location of one of the government offices (kanga) of the Asuka Palace. Sakafuneishi is a huge site relating to imperial rituals at the beginning of the Ritsuryo era and it is of great importance for understanding the nature of imperial ritual during the formation of the Ritsuryo state.
Keywords:
Asuka era, Asuka region, ritual sites, stone monuments
The Results of Excavations at the Koriyama Site, Sendai: An Administrative Site (Kanga) from the Time of the Establishment of Mutsu Province
Ei'ichi NagashimaThe Koriyama site, located in Taihaku-ku, Sendai City, is the oldest kanga (Ritsuryo administrative office) and temple site in the Tohoku. The site is not mentioned in the contemporary Nihon Shoki or Shoku Nihongi. Finds of pottery and roof tiles had been reported from the end of the Taisho era, but the actual nature of the site only gradually became clear after excavations in Showa 54. Sendai Municipal Board of Education began a series of excavations in Showa 55 and discovered the Phase I kanga from the mid-7th century, the rebuilt Phase II kanga, and the Koriyama abandoned temple. These finds provided a key to understanding northern Japan prior to the construction of Taga Fort. The stone-lined pond and other features in the center of the Phase II kanga would not have existed without a close relationship with the palaces of the Asuka region and suggest that ceremonies and banquets relating to the incorporation of the Emishi were conducted in the Tohoku. From the overall layout of the Phase II kanga and similarities with the main building and roof tiles of the Taga Fort temple, this site has to be considered as the administrative center of Mutsu Province prior to the construction of Taga Fort. This paper summarizes the research that has been conducted on the Koriyama site over the past 25 years.
Key words:
Asuka and Nara periods; Tohoku; kanga; Buddhism; ceremonial ponds.
Excavations at the Jingamine Castle Site
Hiroyuki YoshidaWhat changes did castle sites undergo during the transition form Antiquity to the Middle Ages? Did they evolve in a smooth trajectory from Antiquity? These are questions that have already been discussed in research on castle sites in Japanese historical archaeology.
The Jingamine castle examined in this paper appears in the Shinpen Aizu Fudoki which was edited by the Aizu domain in the Tokugawa period. The castle was known from a comparatively early stage for its large double moat and from the legends around Echigo Joshi. Almost no excavations or surveys had been conducted, however, and the actual nature of the castle remained unclear.
Recently many sherds of trade ceramics had been collected from the castle site and its importance was once again recognized. With the aim of leaving the castle for future generations, Aizu Bange Municipal Board of Education began exploratory surveys to confirm the extent of the site from fiscal Heisei 14. As a result of these surveys, a large pillared building thought to be the main castle building, a large quantity of trade ceramics, and bronze weights and bronze mirrors were discovered from the site. From these remains it was inferred that this was a focal site of the Inagawa estate in the 12th century. Through previous research it had been known that most castle sites with large ditches were distributed in the northern Tohoku where military tension was very high. The present surveys confirmed a major fortress at the southern edge of the distribution, but why a castle with such moats was necessary in this area is completely unclear and must be a topic for future research.
From the historical records it is known that in the 12th century Aizu Bange and its surroundings formed the Inagawa estate of the Sekkanke regents. Sophisticated use of metropolitan culture has been found at Yakuoji and other sites of about the same period, suggesting strong links with Kyoto through the Sekkanke. The "Aizu no shiro" mentioned in the Gyokuyo has been linked with Jingamine and, as well as work on the historical documents and local legends, future archaeological research needs to examine the origins of these castles and their function within shoen estates. Jingamine is not just of interest for the regional study of castles, but has great significance for understanding military sites during the formation of medieval society in Japan.
Key words:
early Middle Ages, Tohoku region, castle sites
The Excavations at Jingokamezuka and Their Significance A Review of Jingokamezuka Kofun
Masaharu YodaJingokamezuka, located in Notogawa Township, Kanzaki County, Shiga Prefecture, is a 38m long square keyhole-shaped tomb which was built on the eve of the establishment of the classic circular keyhole tombs. A mound reaching a height of 3.8m above the plain still remains and there were two central burials with wooden coffins. The site is thus of great importance for understanding the initial appearance of keyhole shaped tombs in the Japanese archipelago.
The excavation report reviewed here was published within about three months after the end of the excavations. Two discussion meetings with archaeologists and 23 lectures were also attempts to move toward the preservation of the site. Careful excavations of the wooden coffins and surrounding moat and embankment, as well as many years of work on surrounding sites, provide us with a picture of the mound construction with its emphasis on the mound shape and of the central chief who used the lakes and creeks of the Lake Biwa water system. The background to these reconstructions is the authors' confidence in the detailed local pottery chronology.
Within the diverse regions of the archipelago, the use of wooden coffins and the square keyhole shape at Kamezuka are used in this report to propose the need for a new direction in Kofun research. This publication will provide one direction for the future of settlement and regional research in the Yayoi and Kofun periods.
JAA