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Archaeological and anthropological studies on the correlation between advances of hunting technology and population increase of Homo sapiens

Research Project

Project/Area Number 19H01346
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Review Section Basic Section 03050:Archaeology-related
Research InstitutionTohoku University

Principal Investigator

Sano Katsuhiro  東北大学, 東北アジア研究センター, 教授 (60587781)

Project Period (FY) 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥17,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥13,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,960,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000)
Keywordsホモ・サピエンス / 人口増加 / 狩猟 / 投射技術
Outline of Research at the Start

本研究は、出アフリカを果たして世界各地に拡散したホモ・サピエンスが、各地で人口増加を実現した背景の解明を目指す。旧石器時代狩猟採集民の人口増加に直接的に関与する可能性の高い狩猟方法の変化を探るため、ユーラシア大陸に拡散した直後のホモ・サピエンスが残した狩猟用石器と対象獣の解析をおこなう。また、ホモ・サピエンスの人口増加プロセスを正確に復元するため、初期ホモ・サピエンス遺跡の体系的な年代測定とその解析をおこなう。これにより、ホモ・サピエンスが人口増を実現した要因とプロセスを多角的に検証する。

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study testifies a hypothesis that advanced hunting technology using speathrower-darts or bows-and-arrows allowed Homo sapiens to increase their population size, while archaic humans, including Neanderthals and Denisovans, went extinct. Microscopic analysis of backed lithic pieces from the Uluzzian technocomplex (45,000-40,000 years ago) at Grotta del Cavallo (southern Italy) reveals their use as mechanically delivered projectile weapons, attributed to anatomically modern humans. Use-wear and residue analyses indicate that the lithics were hunting armatures hafted with complex adhesives, while experimental and ethnographic comparisons support their use as projectiles. The use of projectiles conferred a hunting strategy with a higher impact energy and a potential subsistence advantage over other populations and species.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究成果により、4万5000-4万年前にヨーロッパにやってきたホモ・サピエンスが、投槍器か弓を使って狩猟をしていたことが明らかになった。これにより、ヨーロッパにおける投射具利用の起源は、これまで考えられていたよりも約2万年遡ることになる。4万5000-4万年前は、ヨーロッパでネアンデルタール人とホモ・サピエンスが共存していた頃で、ネアンデルタール人が4万年前に絶滅したのに対し、ホモ・サピエンスが人口を増やしていく要因がわかっていなかった。投槍器や弓を使った狩猟は、生存競争において有利であることがわかっており、今回の発見は、この謎を解明する手がかりとして期待される。

Report

(5 results)
  • 2023 Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2022 Annual Research Report
  • 2021 Annual Research Report
  • 2020 Annual Research Report
  • 2019 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (25 results)

All 2024 2023 2021 2020 2019 Other

All Int'l Joint Research (4 results) Journal Article (6 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 4 results,  Peer Reviewed: 4 results,  Open Access: 2 results) Presentation (11 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 6 results,  Invited: 8 results) Book (4 results)

  • [Int'l Joint Research] シエナ大学/ボローニャ大学(イタリア)

    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] シエナ大学/ボローニャ大学(イタリア)

    • Related Report
      2021 Annual Research Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] シエナ大学/ボローニャ大学/エレットゥラ・シンクロトロン研究所(イタリア)

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] シエナ大学/ボローニャ大学/エレットゥラ・シンクロトロン研究所(イタリア)

    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] Experiments with replicas of Early Upper Paleolithic edge-ground stone axes and adzes provide criteria for identifying tool functions2024

    • Author(s)
      Iwase Akira、Sano Katsuhiro、Nagasaki Junichi、Otake Noriaki、Yamada Masahisa
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Archaeological Science

      Volume: 163 Pages: 105891-105891

    • DOI

      10.1016/j.jas.2023.105891

    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] Reply to Barkai: Implications of the Konso bone handaxe2020

    • Author(s)
      Suwa Gen、Asfaw Berhane、Sano Katsuhiro、Beyene Yonas
    • Journal Title

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

      Volume: 117 Issue: 49 Pages: 30894-30895

    • DOI

      10.1073/pnas.2018084117

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] A 1.4-million-year-old bone handaxe from Konso, Ethiopia, shows advanced tool technology in the early Acheulean2020

    • Author(s)
      Sano Katsuhiro、Beyene Yonas、Katoh Shigehiro、Koyabu Daisuke、Endo Hideki、Sasaki Tomohiko、Asfaw Berhane、Suwa Gen
    • Journal Title

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

      Volume: 117 Issue: 31 Pages: 18393-18400

    • DOI

      10.1073/pnas.2006370117

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Insight into competitive advantage of modern humans over Neanderthals2020

    • Author(s)
      Sano Katsuhiro
    • Journal Title

      Elettra Highlights 2019-2020

      Volume: 2019-2020 Pages: 50-51

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] The earliest evidence for mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe2019

    • Author(s)
      Sano Katsuhiro、Arrighi Simona、Stani Chiaramaria、Aureli Daniele、Boschin Francesco、Fiore Ivana、Spagnolo Vincenzo、Ricci Stefano、Crezzini Jacopo、Boscato Paolo、Gala Monica、Tagliacozzo Antonio、Birarda Giovanni、Vaccari Lisa、Ronchitelli Annamaria、Moroni Adriana、Benazzi Stefano
    • Journal Title

      Nature Ecology & Evolution

      Volume: 3 Issue: 10 Pages: 1409-1414

    • DOI

      10.1038/s41559-019-0990-3

    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Lithic technology, chronology, and marine shells from Wadi Aghar, southern Jordan, and Initial Upper Paleolithic behaviors in the southern inland Levant2019

    • Author(s)
      Kadowaki Seiji、Tamura Toru、Sano Katsuhiro、Kurozumi Taiji、Maher Lisa A.、Wakano Joe Yuichiro、Omori Takayuki、Kida Risako、Hirose Masato、Massadeh Sate、Henry Donald O.
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Human Evolution

      Volume: 135 Pages: 102646-102646

    • DOI

      10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102646

    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Projectile experiments and functional studies on Japanese Upper Palaeolithic sites2023

    • Author(s)
      Katsuhiro Sano
    • Organizer
      Technology, Typology, Traceology. Paleolithic Toolkits in Eurasia
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Presentation] Emergence of arrowheads and arrowshaft smoothers during the Late Glacial in the Japanese islands2023

    • Author(s)
      Han Wang, Ryosuke Kumagai, Yoshitaka Kanomata, Katsuhiro Sano
    • Organizer
      XXth UISPP World Congress, Timisioara
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Techno-functional diversity of Final Palaeolithic points in Northern Germany2023

    • Author(s)
      Katsuhiro Sano, Mara-Julia Weber
    • Organizer
      XXth UISPP World Congress, Timisioara
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Subsistence strategies of prehistoric hunter-gatherers on a small island of Tokunoshima, Japan2023

    • Author(s)
      Katsuhiro Sano, Yoshihisa Suyama, Yasufumi Iryu
    • Organizer
      XXI INQUA Congress, Rome
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Insight into competitive advantage of modern humans over Neanderthals.2021

    • Author(s)
      Sano, K.
    • Organizer
      International Conference dedicated to the 25th Anniversary of CNEAS, Tohoku University. Session A2: Human Evolution and the History of Advances in Human Cultures
    • Related Report
      2021 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Presentation] ホモ・サピエンスの複合的狩猟具の出現と組み合わせ道具の起源2021

    • Author(s)
      佐野勝宏
    • Organizer
      新学術領域「共創言語進化・出ユーラシア」合同領域会議「物と命」
    • Related Report
      2021 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] 気候変動と人類史2021

    • Author(s)
      佐野勝宏
    • Organizer
      第10回 学術交流連携講演会 人の営みと自然気候変動と人類史
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] 道具に見る階層構造の発達と言語2020

    • Author(s)
      佐野勝宏
    • Organizer
      第2回 共創言語セミナー
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] ネアンデルタール人の絶滅の謎―ホモ・サピエンスの卓越した狩猟2020

    • Author(s)
      佐野勝宏
    • Organizer
      ELPHシンポジウム2020
    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] 日本列島に置ける投槍器・弓矢猟の出現と波及2019

    • Author(s)
      佐野勝宏
    • Organizer
      シンポジウムHunting―狩猟相解明のためアプローチ
    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Emergence of the complex multi-faceted sequences in human tools2019

    • Author(s)
      Sano, K.
    • Organizer
      Evolinguistics Workshop 2019
    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Book] 何が歴史を動かしたのか 第1巻 自然史と旧石器・縄文考古学(担当章:狩猟具の発達と新人の拡散:アフリカからヨーロッパへ)2023

    • Author(s)
      佐野勝宏
    • Total Pages
      307
    • Publisher
      雄山閣
    • ISBN
      9784639029175
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] The beef behind all Possible pasts. The Tandem-Festschrift in Honour of Elaine Turner and Martin Street2021

    • Author(s)
      Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S. and Joris, O.
    • Total Pages
      417
    • Publisher
      Verlag des Romisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums
    • ISBN
      9783884673423
    • Related Report
      2021 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] 石器痕跡研究の理論と実践2020

    • Author(s)
      御堂島 正・佐野勝宏・他8名
    • Total Pages
      282
    • Publisher
      同成社
    • ISBN
      9784886218506
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] 季刊考古学・別冊32 上黒岩岩陰と縄文草創期2020

    • Author(s)
      春成秀爾・佐野勝宏・他34名
    • Total Pages
      146
    • Publisher
      雄山閣
    • ISBN
      9784639027126
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report

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Published: 2019-04-18   Modified: 2025-01-30  

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