Functional variability of stone tools and its implications for the Upper Paleolithic adaptive strategies on the eastern Japanese Archipelago

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K16874
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Archaeology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan University
• Principal Investigator: Iwase Akira 首都大学東京, 人文科学研究科, 助教 (70589829)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 実験考古学 / 石器使用痕分析 / 後期旧石器時代 / 日本列島

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to elucidate the Upper Palaeolithic technological adaptations, this study investigated the functional variability of stone tools on the eastern Japanese Archipelago, and examined what caused the differences of stone tool uses. The analyses suggested that the Upper Palaeolithic foragers may have changed their stone tool usages depending on the type of available tool materials, the variation in risk of resource-failure, and/or the difference of residential mobility.

Free Research Field

考古学