2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Studies on the Correlation between Human Settlement and Fauna in Palaeolithic Period
| Project/Area Number |
13410117
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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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 | OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
INADA Takashi Okayama Univ., Fac. Of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (40135926)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KAWAMURA Yoshinari Aichi Univ. Of Education, Fac. Of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (00135394)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2003
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| Keywords | Palaeolithic period / Mammalian fossil / Hunting / Trap pit / Settlement pattern / Dwelling structure / Japan / France |
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| Research Abstract |
(1) Studying the structures at Palaeolithic sites and their geographical conditions
a. The circular artefact units belong not to several groups but only to one group because artefact units are clearly homogeneous from analysing the distribution of the main tools and the raw materials. b. The trap pits found in the Hakone and Ashitaka foothills were used trapping the herds of deer migrating between the top and the foothills of these mountains. c. At least three structures which have been reported as Palaeolithic dwellings may not belong to Palaeolithic period or have no evidence of dwellings. d. The origins of the Jomon pit dwellings seem to be the tents or huts of Microblade and Mikoshiba cultures in Hokkaido that spread to Honsyu from the terminal Palaeolithic to the beginning of the Jomon.
(2) Investigation of Pleistocene mammalian fossil
a. We conducted excavations at Shoheigaiwaya cave and ascertained that a Initial Jomon cultural layer was covered by the K-Ah volcanic ash in the upper deposits, and a thick aquatic layer included a few mammalian fossil in the lower deposits. b. Excavations at Tarumi NT cave brought to light a number of animal bones belonging to Middle Pleistocene.
(3) Comparative studies on the Palaeolithic settlement and hunting between Japan and France a. Foreign collaborators wrote their articles concerning this project. b. Based on these articles and other studies, I compared the altitudinal displacement of deer inferred from the trap pits found in Japan with the micromigration of reindeer in Palaeolithic southwestern France. In spits of the similarity, we can see a striking contrast concerning the progress of sedentism at the time of the transition from Palaeolithic to Post-Palaeolithic period between Japan and France.
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