1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Studies on Possible Exchange Networks and Redistribution Centers in Paleolithic Japan
| Project/Area Number |
07610407
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
考古学(含先史学)
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| Research Institution | MEIJI UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
AMBIRU Masao Meiji Univ./School of Arts and Letters/Prof., 文学部, 教授 (00183153)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1995 – 1997
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| Keywords | Paleolithic / Obsidian / Migratory Way of Life / Groups of Stone Tool Graftsmen |
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| Research Abstract |
It is well-accepted that obsidian quarried in the central highlands of Japan were transported to and widely utilized in the southern Kanto Plain where Paleolithic sites are densely located. While this transportation into the southern Kanto Plain has been scientifically proved, their spatial and temporal patterns of procurement remain to be investigated.
The long-distance transportation of obsidian in large quantities from the quarries took place twice, approximately 22,000 years ago (early episode) and 18,000 years ago (late episode). The mechanisms of their transportation differed considerably. In the early episode, migratory hunter-gatherers who were based in the Kanto Plain visited the central highlands to obtain obsidian as necessary. In the late episode, on the other hand, groups of stone tool craftsmen who transported obsidian from the central highlands to southern Kanto Plain appeared. Accordingly, migratory hunter-gatherers in the southern Kanto Plain became constantly able to obtain obsidian via third party, i.e. the stone tool craftsmen.
The appearance of the stone tool craftsmen resulted in a considerable change in the patterns of obsidian procurement from direct, self-sustaining way to indirect way via third party. This may be considered as the beginning of commodity exchange in the Paleolithic Period. This also leads us to suspect that a network came to be operational that almost all the places in the southern Kanto Plain could obtain obsidian from the central highlands.
It is important to note that obsidian quarried in the central highlands were transported as far as to northern Kanto and Tohoku (northeastern Japan). In this sense, the central highlands were an origin of the network of broad procurement of obsidian. I would argue that the central highlands were a major center of trades in Upper Paleolithic Japan.
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