Collaborative Research
C. The Corpus Research about the Settlement in Jomon and Yayoi Period
| Type of Research | Scientific Research |
|---|---|
| Project Title | General Study of Materials and Advanced Historical Information of Artifacts |
| Research Title | C. The Corpus Research about the Settlement in Jomon and Yayoi Period |
| Head of the Research Team | FUJIO Shin'ichiro |
| Research Period | 2005–2007 |
| Research Team |
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| Purpose | The Yayoi period is an epoch-making period in the study of the history and culture of the Japanese archipelago; this is because the acquisition economy of gathering, hunting, and fishing had begun to change to the production economy of paddy field rice cropping. Technical innovations such as production and use of metal implements, battles among groups, the environmental destruction from cultivating the land and living in a cluster, and internationalization by means of exchanges with the Han Dynasty and the southern part of the Korean peninsula became factors affecting the Japanese culture. However, it is difficult to say that settlements, which were the bases of Yayoi life and production, have been investigated in enough depth. Therefore, this group aims to study the number of such settlements; regional and time deviations in the establishment of these settlements; individual rise and fall of specific settlements; rise and fall of an entire region; form, scale, and structure of the settlements; the way of Seigyo; and the manual industry through excavated articles. The group will also study religious facilities and the chief's house on the basis of integrative research on settlements in the Japanese archipelago. Therefore, this group will focus on settlements all over the country from the later Jomon period through the Yayoi period, seeking cooperation with archeological researchers in the relevant prefectures. The group's work aims to enhance the use of basic materials by organizing them on the basis of certain standards and publishing them as well as to contribute to sharing them for research in the future. |
2007
Result
A somewhat deeper discussion has been understood to be possible when subdividing further based on archaeological evidence like difference in conditions of volcanic ash in soil, as shown in the presentation of Mr. HAMADA, though it was thought that the group had to evaluate the meaning of dwellings belonging to the period of the same type of pottery not as in simultaneous existence but as an accumulation result last year because subdivision is difficult in one type of pottery continues over a period of over 100 years. Moreover, because there are periods of continuation the same as the traditional length, like the beginning of and the end of the early Yayoi period, it was possible to develop the substantive settlement theory including the background of the difference in the period of continuation of each pottery type.
(1) The group collects manuscripts by September 2008, six months after the end of workshop, and aims at publishing National Museum of Japanese History research reports in 2008. This contains individual papers by cooperative researchers and proposals of the methodology for discussing the settlement theory in the Yayoi period based on calibrated age.
(2) March 2008 is the deadline for submission of abstract reports data by committee members around the nation. The group spends one year afterwards on organizing the data. Then the group plans to complete the data for West Japan by March 2009, and for East Japan by March 2010, and open the database on HP of National Museum of Japanese History.
2006
Progress
(1) Workshop: The group started working on two problems this year to understand the direction of Jomon and Yayoi settlement theory. First, when discussing the prehistoric group relations, the most important basic work is to specify how many people lived in one settlement at one time. Basic figures, like the population and labor power, etc., are no evident unless the group scale around the same period is specified. Previously, each type of Yayoi pottery from a period of continuation of about 25 to 30 years in length was considered one generation, and the group has discussed the assumption that dwellings belonging to the same pottery type existed in the same period. However, it became impossible to consider each type to be from the same period because AMS 14C dating showed that the period of continuation of each type would have to extend to 150 to 200 years around the early and middle Yayoi period. Therefore, the drafting of guidelines is essential to assume the same period in order to presume the group scale. The group started basic work based on the actual situation in various places.
Next, in order to match the basic terms of archaeological settlement research to those of other fields of study, the group started the process of comparative investigation, which had become a problem since last year, along with definitions in related various sciences. The group carried out a comparative investigation with terms in terms of historical geography, inviting Mr. KINDA Akihiro from the field of historical geography as the guest speaker.
| The 1st Workshop |
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Schedule: Saturday, May 27, 2006 Venue: National Museum of Japanese History
Meeting: Discussing digitalization for visualization of Jomon and Yayoi settlements |
The 2nd Workshop |
Schedule: July 15–16, 2006 Venue: National Museum of Japanese History
Meeting: Announcing the list of committee members for collecting abstract reports, the particular contents of the work, and ways of visualization of Yayoi settlements |
| The 3rd Workshop |
Schedule: September 24 (Sun.), 2006 Venue: Kanazawa Kinrousha Plaza
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| The 4th Workshop |
Schedule: November 2 (Fri.), 2006 Venue: The Ehime Research Center for Buried Cultural Properties
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| The 5th Workshop |
Schedule: March 25 (Sun.), 2007 Venue: Osaka Prefectural Museum of Yayoi Culture
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(2) Local Review Session:
September: The group visited the Yokaichi area site in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture. The Yokaichi area site, which dated from the early stage of the middle Yayoi period, was a moated settlement thought to be a distribution base for goods in this region. This investigation led to new discoveries such as that of the remains of the barrier where stakes had been driven along the moat.
November: The group visited highland settlements and central settlements in the plains, such as the Gyodosan site, a highland settlement in Iyo City, Ehime Prefecture; the Kume site cluster, a moated site cluster from the end of the early through the beginning of the middle Yayoi period, in Matuyama City; the Tarumishitanji site in Matsuyama City; and the Bunkyo site on the campus of Ehime University. The group could visually recognize from the geographical distribution of the Bunkyo site that it is the central settlement in the Matsuyama Plain, and the Tarumishitanji site and others are peripheral settlements.
March: The group visited the excavation of the Ikeshima Hukumanji site in Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture. It is one of the oldest Yayoi settlements in the Kawachi Plain, and paddy fields from the early to middle period were under investigation. Yayoi settlements in the Kawachi Plain are different from common Yayoi settlements on hills because the then ground level now exists several meters below the ground, unlike in other regions. Moreover, it is difficult to imagine the landscape of settlements from around the period because pit houses cannot easily found. Consequently, the restoration model for the structure of Yayoi settlements was seen to be peculiar.
(3) With regard to the collecting work mentioned in the research title, the group aims for completion in December next year by sending abstract data of 47 prefectures to all 59 members of the committee at the beginning of September. The group estimates 20,000 to 30,000 items at present. Because copies of abstracts are sent to some prefectures without digitalizing them, it is necessary to enter them into Excel for support by the end of this year.
Contents commissioned from 59 members of the committee around the nation are as follows.
- Target (period, area): Later Jomon to ancient Haji, and Ryukyu and Hokkaido in the same period.
- Date of Publication: Already published and scheduled to be published by March 2007.
- To investigate the following items after checking an excess or deficiency of abstracts by National Museum of Japanese History.
- Detailed period: To classify each abstract based on the period of the pottery type.
- Sites covered: The range of data to be collected is different in Kinki and to the west and in Tokai, Hokuriku, and to the east. In Kinki and to the west, only data with remains will be collected from after the Yayoi period, while data will be collected even if only relics were found from the later and end of the Jomon period. In contrast, in Tokai, Hokuriku, and to the east, data will be collected even if only relics were found from the Yayoi period, while only data with remains will be collected from the Jomon period.
- Altitude of finding remains and relics: Lower and upper altitude if different in elevation
- Term: From September 1, 2006, to the end of March 2008
- Submission of data: March for the collection made during 2006, and December 2007 after that.
Result
A radical review of the theory of Yayoi settlements built up over 60 years is required when discussing the settlement theory based on calendar year as previously noted. A base population with five pit houses in a period assumed that period of continuation of a settlement is about 30 years, the same as that of each pottery type. However, a more than 100-year continuation period of one type in calibrated age loses touch with image of the word of simultaneous existence. This is because it is impossible to judge from the lifetime of pit houses that life had been led there for 100 years. It is easier to understand this as accumulation result rather than simultaneous existence. It is necessary to note the following points in such a case.
(1) Positions are divided on whether to discuss one period assuming a unit of over 100 years, or thoroughly investigate methods for recognition of simultaneous existence. It is expected that the latter method can be adopted only in a few cases where the investigation is carried out under extremely favorable conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to consider basic ideas and concrete analysis methods concerning the settlement theory from the standpoint of the former method. It is believed that the highly original issue cannot be looked at by any entity other than the National Museum of Japanese History. The group will collect manuscripts by March 2009, one year after the end of the workshop, and aim at the publication of National Museum of Japanese History research report in 2009. This report contains individual paper by cooperative researchers and proposals of the methodology for discussing the settlement theory in prehistory based on calendar year.
(2) December 2007 is the deadline for submission of abstract report data by committee members around the nation. The group will then take one year to organize the data and publish it in March 2009. The group will apply to the committee for information for the project of constructing a database in 2008, and aim at opening the database after 2010.
2005
Progress
Progress of Cooperative Research for 2005 (the Initial Year)
| The 1st Workshop |
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Schedule: May 15, 2005 Venue: National Museum of Japanese History Presenters:
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The 2nd Workshop |
Schedule: July 23–24, 2005 Venue: National Museum of Japanese History Presenters:
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| The 3rd Worksho |
Schedule: September 18–19, 2005 Venue: National Museum of Japanese History Presenters:
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| The 4th Workshop |
Schedule: November 26–27, 2005 Venue: Asahi Ruins, Aichi Prefecture; Aichi Archaeological Center [Visit of the Asahi Ruins, Kiyosu-cho, Aichi] [Workshop]
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| The 5th Workshop |
Schedule:January 21–22 Venue: The Sujikai site in Matusaka City, Mie Prefecture, the Muratake Kono site, Okayama City Buried Cultural Property Center, and Okayama Digital Museum [Visit for the third field survey of the Sujikai site, Sujikai, Ureshinoniwanosho-cho, Matusaka City] [The Muratake Kono site, Uegawa-cho, Matusaka City] [Matsusaka Cultural Center in Matsusaka City] [Workshop] Presenters:
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Result
The group entered abstract reports that were required after 1996 to be added to reports, though they are not made public. Four thousand abstracts from Okinawa to Kyoto were entered as of March 2006.
