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"NIHON KÔKOGAKU" 23 Abstracts

[A] : Article, [RN] : Research Note, [PR] : Preliminary Report of Excavation, [BR] : Book Review; [ST] : Study Trend

No.23 May 2007; 133p., ISSN 1340-8488, ISBN 978-4-642-09098-8
[A] Asaei Abe On the Studies of Preferential Handedness of Palaeolithic Humans 1-18
[A] Kazuhiro Ege lron Daggers and Swords in the Yayoi Period 19-39
[A] Takashi Aoki Interrelationships between Mounds and Stone Chambers in Mounded Tombs 41-65
[A] Seiji Mochizuki Immigrants' Settlements of the Asuka Period in Western Hokuriku Region:
from the Viewpoints of Cooking Vessels, Pit Building Structures, and Village Management 		67-88
[RN] Nobuo Miyauchi, Kunio Yoshida , Wataru Suganuma, and Toru Miyao A Clay Figurine of Carbonized Material Temper 89-104
[PR] Hiroshi Hanatani , Shinichi Miyahara , Yoshiyuki Aihara , Yoshihide Tamada , and Ryu Murakami Excavation Report of Kitora Mounded Tomb 105-114
[BR] Mitsunori Yagi Book Review: Emishi no Kokogaku (Archaeology of Emishi) by Takehaya Matsumoto 115-120
[BR] Atsushi Nakai Chusei Shuraku ni Okeru Shohi Katsudo no Kenkyu (Study on Consumption Activities in a Medieval Village) by Yasuyuki Suzuki 121-126
[ST]Claire Smith Proceedings of the WAC Osaka Inter-Congress Claire Smith127-129

On the Studies of Preferential Handedness of Palaeolithic Humans

Asaei Abe

Right-handed individuals occur at a frequency approximating 90% in modern populations and use their right hand to do asymmetrical work with assistance from their left hand Accordingly, it is clear that the right and left hands have a different function respectively and show organic specialization Preferential right-handedness has developed probably through the course of human evolution It is natural to ask when preferential right-handedness emerged in the course of evolution Concerning the origin of handedness, many arguments have been proposed However, few results of the studies regarding Palaeolithic handedness are familiar to us The author reviewed some studies and found that there were few studies convincing him of preferential right-handedness or not, in spite of their good standpoint.

From the review, problems on studying handedness were elucidated as follows:

  1. It is necessary to select appropriate objects and their attributes concerning handedness
  2. Relative locations and movements of tools, worked objects and hands in three dimensions when working must be reproduced by the aid of technical and functional morphologies of the artifacts
  3. To measure preferential handedness, there should be anatomical, kinematical and ergonomic standards for economical, practical and secure motions of the hominid organs
  4. It is reasonable to utilize the results of experimental studies, use wear analyses and ethnological studies , as well as anatomical and kinematical studies of hominids

With the above standpoints , preferential handedness of Palaeolithic humanity will be solved in future, accompanied by increasing materials of recent excavations The study of handedness will serve to reconstruct the behaviors of prehistoric and historic peoples who made, used and discarded the tools in the kinematical and ergonomic system

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lron Daggers and Swords in the Yayoi Period

Kazuhiro Ege

lron daggers and swords in the Yayoi period varied in size and style, and they were distributed rather irregularly in each phase in the JapaneseArchipelago In this article, iron daggers and swords of the Yayoi period were compared with those of the southern Korean Peninsula , for which archaeological data has increased , and thoughts were given on their meaning by examining aspects of production, distribution, and consumption as funerary equipment.

First was examination of the hypothesis that among the daggers from middle to the final stage of Late Yayoi in the Japanese Archipelago , Iong daggers with long and narrow handles were imported , and short daggers contained some that were made in Japan As for distribution, many long daggers with long and narrow handles and iron swords were distributed on the Sea of Japan side of Honshu, and this area overlapped with the distribution of large burial pits and glass cylindrical beads used for funerary equipment Many of the long daggers distributed in eastern Japan had short handles and a flat trapezoidal shape This regional difference suggests a strong reflection of consumer demands in the distribution process through transit trade.

On the aspects of consumption in funerary equipment of mound tombs , most individuals buried with funerary equipment in the coffin were adult males Some mound tombs in the final phase of the Yayoi period saw juveniles buried with funerary equipment, but this was unusual Also, thoughts were given on a possibility that the awareness of "hek~ja existed as one of the basic philosophies underlying burying iron daggers and swords, although some verification research is necessary in the future Many of the tombs with large burial pits had iron daggers and swords buried in them, and among those, some contained imported long daggers and large swords, but on the other hand, some had short daggers and only tips of sword blades.

As for the background for distribution of long daggers and iron swords through the Sea of Japan that were used as funerary equipment among some of the upper class tombs of the Japanese Archipelago and southern Korean Peninsula , it can be pointed out that information on social circumstances in regions around the Sea of Japan and" political"relations between the groups were some of conditions attached to the products.

One necessary research topic in the future is to conduct comparative examination on the usage of weapons for close combat or weapon-shaped products in different regions, and their historical connection and meaning as the background , including those other than iron daggers and swords, such as stone weapons and weapon-shaped bronze objects.

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Interrelationships between Mounds and Stone Chambers in Mounded Tombs

Takashi Aoki

As a result of a classification study conducted on interrelationships of burial mounds and stone chambers for mounded tombs (kofun), they were divided into three types: mound preference type from Early Kofun, which prioritizes the mound size; stone chamber preference type, which prioritizes corridor-style stone chambers which began in Late Kofun, and a combination type, which values both mounds and corridor-style stone chambers.

The mound preference type persisted until Late Kofun mainly around the area with keyhole-shaped mounded tombs , but it was discovered that by the final stage of Kofun, many areas where mound preference type survived until Late Kofun were expelled by an unified spread of combination type and stone chamber preference type However, it was confirmed that the mound preference type remained persistently in areas in and north of Kanto region, and it became clear that priority in construction of funeral mounds were different in each region.

Also, a possibility was pointed out that the hierarchy of burial mounds may change when mound length reaches around 60 meters, and this hierarchy may have adapted until Late Kofun in the Japanese Archipelago, or the final stage of Kofun in Kanto region.

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Immigrants' Settlements of the Asuka Period in Western Hokuriku Region:
from the Viewpoints of Cooking Vessels, Pit Building Structures, and Village Management

Seiji Mochizuki

In the 7th century, villages with newly developed traits were formed in the Echizen / Kaga region, around less developed areas such as alluvial fans and plateaus Whereas villages in the former half of the 7th century consisted of cooking vessels made with traditional techniques, immigrant cooking vessels originated in northern Kinai regions such as Omi and Tanba , or in the Korean Peninsula emerged mainly in newly developed villages during the mid-7th to early 8th centuries Therefore, it canbe saidthat these newly developed villages are immigrant villages In this article, the origin of these immigrants (honganchi) and aspects of village formation were examined based on immigrant cooking vessels and styles of pit buildings As a result, it was observed that each village consisted of a single lineage group, rather than a mixture originating from Omi , Tanba, and the Korean Peninsula Also, it was concluded that a plateau village and an alluvial fan village are the typical newly developed villages , and the former was characterized as a manual industry type village which was operated together with manual industry villages in hilly areas , and the latter was a farming developmental village for promotion of large agriculture Whereas the former village type was mainly organized by immigrants from Korea, the latter was organized by immigrants from Tanba and Omi in northern Kinai It was understood that selection and distribution of immigrants were conducted according to the purpose of development.

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A Clay Figurine of Carbonized Material Temper

Nobuo Miyauchi, Kunio Yoshida , Wataru Suganuma, and Toru Miyao

We found some unknown black material in the temper of a clay figurine of Middle Jomon period that was excavated from Habakami site in Tokamachi city , Niigata prefecture . This paper focuses on the origin of the black material , and problems of containing the black material.

The black material was examined by observation of soft X-ray images and X-ray computed tomography images , Xray fluorescence analysis , stable isotope analysis , and radiocarbon dating. The following results have been speculated: (1) Tempering materials in the clay figurine are mixed homogenously , and the black material was kneaded in the body paste of the clay figurine. (2) The black material is carbonized material , and those stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios show the range of values of Cplant species. (3) Radiocarbon age of the black material corresponds to the chronological date of these clay figurines' type. Therefore, it does not seem that the black material originated from natural sedimentary clay. It is thought that the black material kneaded in the raw body paste of the clay figurine is carbonized material .

Examples of folk customs and ethnographical data provide supporting evidence for embodiment of clay figurines in not only physical form but also production processes from selection of raw materials to finishing were considered . Carbonized material in a clay figurine of Habakami site might be located in such a process.

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Excavation Report of Kitora Mounded Tomb

Hiroshi Hanatani , Shinichi Miyahara , Yoshiyuki Aihara , Yoshihide Tamada , and Ryu Murakami

Kitora Mounded Tomb is a continental mounded tomb ( kofun ) with frescos like Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb. It has a round mound build by packing soil in two stages , and there was a trace of Koro rail on the floor of the grave's passageway located in the southern side of the stone chamber. The stone chamber is constructed with cut out welded tuff, and red layout lines remain on the stone materials. The entire inside of the stone chamber was plastered and frescos were drawn. Inside the stone chamber, the whole floor was covered with sediment of lacquer pieces from a lacquered wooden casket. The floor was divided into blocks and each block of sediment was carried out of the stone chamber in a container , with a record of its compass coordinates and its location . Among the excavated artifacts were metal fittings of the wooden casket, beads, a long sword with silver decoration , an iron sword accessory , and human bones and teeth. The bones and teeth were judged to belong to a middle-aged man. Creation of photomaps, which is a compound image with least distortion , was conducted for the frescos. As exfoliation of the frescos is advanced , and frescos are being taken out and are going through preservation treatments. In the process, an image of the horse from the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac was confirmed. The basics of the grave passageway and stone chamber were the same with other final stage mounded tombs. Traces of Koro rails were also found at Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb and Ishinokarato Mounded Tomb , stone piling in the stone chamber resembles that of Marukoyama Mounded Tomb , and the stone lined floor of the stone chamber resembles that of Ishinokarato Mounded Tomb.

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Book Review: Emishi no Kokogaku (Archaeology of Emishi) by Takehaya Matsumoto

Mitsunori Yagi

A good work about "the Emishi" that was a big theme of northern Japan archeology was published recently. It is Emishi no Kokogaku (Archaeology of Emishi) by Takehaya Matsumoto (Doseisha). It casts light on Emishi study , as it proposes that Emishi people of northern Tohoku were an immigrant population , using not only archaeological documents but also agriculture data.

The studied region of the book was northern Tohoku and southern Hokkaido. The studied period is from the end of the 5th century to the I Ith century , and it states there were "three waves of migration from the south to the north. "

The first wave was the end of the 5th century to the beginning of the 6th century , when settlements with Haji wares and pit dwellings with cooking hearths were formed around Hachinohe City on the eastern side of northern Tohoku. It is assumed that the immigrants had wet-rice agriculture, as they were located on low hills facing alluvial land.

The second wave of immigrants was in the 7th to the 8th centuries on the eastern side of northern Tohoku and southern Hokkaido, and they raised horses and cultivated miscellaneous cereals. Evidence of horse raising were examples of excavated horse trappings such as a bridle bits and a harness pendant from a final stage mounded tomb , and cranial bones of a horse buried in a grave. It was pointed out horse raising was a large part of their subsistence. Although the mounded tomb of the final stage in the eastern side of northern Tohoku was a burial pit type, it was not based on burial pit graves of the area, but based on stone pile mounds often found in Kai , Shinano , and Kozuke , where horse raising was popular.

Thus , northern Tohoku in the 7th to 8th centuries showed significant changes and strong influence from the south , and it was assumed that the native people were assimilated into the culture of immigrants.

The third wave happened in the 9th to I Ith centuries in the Tsugaru Plains and Yoneshiro River basin on the western side of northern Tohoku. The number of villages increased rapidly in the latter half of the 9th century for Tsugaru, and in the lOth century for the Yoneshiro River basin. These settlements were located on terraces and hills facing plains , and were considered to be reclamation areas targeted for rice field development. It is said that iron smelting and production of Sue wares began to support this reclamation.

However, Iooking around Sanriku region and central Tohoku, continuity of local residents is seen excluding immigrants in the Sendai Plain and northern Miyagi Prefecture, although they show similar changes. Northern Tohoku can be interpreted as an autonomous development of the local society rather than immigration. At least , it is hard to imagine the necessary scale of immigration to assimilate the local residents.

Finally , Matsumoto gave many important proposals and reading of this book is highly recommended.

JAA
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