New development of geoarchaeological cave study by advanced chemical analyses of stalagmites and fossil snails

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K18522
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 3:History, archaeology, museology, and related fields
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Asami Ryuji 東北大学, 理学研究科, 准教授 (00400242)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 洞穴遺跡 / 鍾乳石 / 貝化石 / 化学分析 / 琉球列島 / 最終氷期 / 歴史気候学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research is to develop a new geoarchaeological study using advanced methods of chemical analyses, regardless of conventional academic frameworks. We carried out a periodic field survey and chemical analyses of the excavated fossil land snails and the stalagmites in the limestone cave on the main island of Okinawa, Japan. As a result, high-resolution climate records during the time when prehistoric people lived there were successfully reconstructed. Consequently, it was found that the seasonal temperature variation in Okinawa around the last glacial period (about 23,000 years ago) was different from the present and the annual average of temperature was 6-to-7 °C lower than today.

Free Research Field

古環境学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で展開した洞穴遺跡研究の新しいアプローチは，日本各地の遺跡研究へ適用することで，旧石器時代の人類史研究を深化させる可能性がある．また，本研究で挑戦した文理融合研究は，今後の人類史研究とその体系を大きく革新させる可能性があり，考古学や地質学，災害学，気象学などを含めた多様な研究テーマを生む．人類の洞窟利用は気候変動や自然災害，植生変化と関連することから，学術・社会面双方に対して意義がある．