Historical studies on the mountain frontiers of pre-Modern Eurasia

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H01320
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03030:History of Asia and Africa-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: INABA MINORU 京都大学, 人文科学研究所, 教授 (60201935)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小茄子川 歩 京都大学, アジア・アフリカ地域研究研究科, 特任准教授 (20808779) ; 塩野崎 信也 龍谷大学, 文学部, 准教授 (70801421) ; 春田 晴郎 東海大学, 文化社会学部, 教授 (90266354)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: フロンティア / 山岳 / 越境 / ユーラシア史

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project, which was designed to conduct fieldworks and research of literary sources regarding mountainous regions as frontiers in pre-modern Eurasia, unfortunately, couldn't carry out sufficient fieldworks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As an alternative, the studies progressed by analyzing satellite images to explore ancient ruins and routes. Individual studies on mountainous frontiers of different eras and regions were carried out by the members of the project. As a result, several intriguing issues were discovered concerning how scattered communities in rugged mountainous areas formed states and the impact of these mountainous regions on the dynamics of those states. Each of these issues will be further developed and published either as individual papers or as a compilation in a special volume.

Free Research Field

中央アジア史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ユーラシア大陸を東西に貫く山岳の帯に着目し、それがそれぞれの歴史世界、文化世界にどう影響したかという角度からの研究は、ユーラシアを内陸部と沿岸部に分け、遊牧民と定住農耕民の相互作用としてユーラシアの歴史を考えることとは別の方向性を示すことができる。人間集団の移動と越境は、各地域に新しい活力と文化を生み出したと理解されるが、それが単に水平方向の移動だけでなく、重力に逆らった垂直方向の移動をも包含することを考慮することで、前近代史研究に新しい可能性が開かれる。