Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T20:45:21.057Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Early Palaeolithic of Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

T. E. G. Reynolds
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The Early Palaeolithic of Japan may be defined as comprised of any assemblage which occurs before 30,000 years BP, i.e., prior to the formation of Tachikawa loam formation of the Kanto region (Serizawa, 1970, Ikawa Smith, 1978, 247-86). It has been the subject of controversy since the Palaeolithic period was recognized in Japan following discoveries at Iwajuku in 1949 (Sugihara, 1956). Early in the history of subsequent research, debate arose as to the date of man's arrival in the archipelago. This debate is of importance to a wider audience for a number of reasons. First, Japan is located in a region which has traditionally been associated as a source area for the peopling of the New World—early dates claimed for occupation in America should then, perhaps, be relatable to similar finds and dates in Japan. Secondly, there is now increasing evidence for relative early dates of occupation in Siberia. (Boriskovskij, 1978, 27; Yi and Clark, 1983; Okladnikov and Pospelova, 1982). These may find supportive evidence from neighbouring lands. Thirdly, it is interesting from the point of view of hominid evolution to know how far populations of Homo erectus and archaic Homo sapiens had spread in East Asia and what form their adaptations took. Additionally, Japan is a relatively well-explored and published source of data in a poorly known region of the World and may be useful as a source for deriving analogies and ideas in interpreting lithic material, particularly in countries such as Korea where palaeolithic research is still in its infancy (Hwang, 1979; Kim, 1983).

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 59 , Issue 226 , June 1985 , pp. 93 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akazawa, T. et al. 1980. The Japanese Palaeolithic: a techno-typological study. (Tokyo).Google Scholar
Bleed, P. 1977. Flakes from Sozudai, Japan: are they man-made? Science, 197, 1, 357–9.Google Scholar
Boriskovskij, P. 1978. Comment in (ed.) Freeman, L. G., Views of the past (The Hague).Google Scholar
Bowen, G. 1979. Report on stone tools from Chongok-ni, Chindan Hakbo, 46/47, 48–55.Google Scholar
Hwang, H-H. 1979. Brief survey of newly discovered Jon’gok hand-axe culture, Korea Journal, 19, 35–40.Google Scholar
Ikawa-Smith, F. 1978. History of early palaeolithic research in Japan in (ed.) Ikawa-Smith, F., Early Palaeolithic in South and East Asia (The Hague).Google Scholar
Kim, W. Y. 1983. The Palaeolithic Age, in Kim, W. Y., Recent archaeological discoveries in the Republic of Korea, (Paris & Tokyo), 4–9.Google Scholar
Okladnikov, A. P. & Pospelova, G. A.. 1982. Ulalinka, the oldest palaeolithic site in Siberia, Current Anthropology, 23, 710–12.Google Scholar
Ohyi, H. 1978. Comments on the Early Palaeolithic of Japan, in (ed.) Ikawa-Smith, F. (1978).Google Scholar
Bunka Danwaki, Sekki (eds.). 1983. Zazaragi Site: cooperative research between archaeology and the natural sciences. (Sendai).Google Scholar
Serizawa, C. 1965. A lower palaeolithic industry from the Sozudai Site, Oita Prefecture, Japan, Reports of the Research Institute for Japanese Culture (English summary). (Tohoku University), 1:119.Google Scholar
Serizawa, C. 1970. The chronological sequence of the palaeolithic cultures of Japan and the relationship with mainland Asia, Proceedings, 8th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Tokyo-Kyoto 1968, 3, 353—55.Google Scholar
Serizawa, C. 1978a. The Stone Age of Japan, Asian Perspectives (1976), 19, 1–14.Google Scholar
Serizawa, C. 1978b. The Early Palaeolithic of Japan, in (ed.) Smith, F. Ikawa (1978).Google Scholar
Sugihara, S. 1956. The stone age remains found at Iwajuku, Gumma Prefecture, Japan, Reports on the Research by the Faculty of Literature, Meiji University, Archaeology No. 1.Google Scholar
Yi, S. & Clark, G. A.. 1983. Observations on the Lower Palaeolithic of Northeast Asia, Current Anthropology, 24, 181–202.Google Scholar