Papers by Fumiko Ikawa-Smith
W HILE archaeology in North America is sometimes considered a set of techniques that may be utili... more W HILE archaeology in North America is sometimes considered a set of techniques that may be utilized by researchers in various disciplines in the. humanities and social sciences, archaeology in Japan is generally regarded as a separate discipline, within a rubric of historical studies. Unlike certain parts of Europe, where prehistoric archaeology, especially Pleistocene archaeology, has an identity separate from historical archaeology in the humanistic tradition, such a division does not exist in Japan, as Oi (1970: 3) confidently states: "It should be self-evident today that archaeology, including prehistoric archaeology, is part of history." I have suggested elsewhere (Ikawa-Smith, in press) that Palaeolithic archaeology since 1962 has been characterized by a series of debates and controversies. In spite of this, Japanese archaeologists, including Palaeolithic archaeologists, appear to share a sense of identity as historians of a special kind, and it seems to me that it is this sense of identity which has actually created some of the controversies, including the debate over radiocarbon chronology and the preoccupation with the homelands of specific Palaeolithic industries. RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY The debate over radiocarbon chronology in Japan centers on the principle of acceptability of physicochemical methods of dating in archaeology in general, and is only indirectly related to such problems as were raised by bristlecone-pine calibration. In other words, the debate is not over the issues created by what Neustupny (1970) called "the second revolution" in radiocarbon dating method; the problems that remain unresolved in Japanese archaeology are those created by the first revolution.
Current Anthropology, 1983
Page 1. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY Vol. 24, No. 2, April 1983 ? 1983 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for ... more Page 1. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY Vol. 24, No. 2, April 1983 ? 1983 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, all rights reserved 0011-3204/83/2402-0001$2.00 Observations on the Lower Palaeolithic of Northeast Asia by Seonbok Yi and GA Clark ...
Current …, 1985
Page 1. current anthropology Vol. 26, No. 1, February 1985 © 1985 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation f... more Page 1. current anthropology Vol. 26, No. 1, February 1985 © 1985 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, all rights reserved 0011-3204/85/2601-0005$2 00 The "Dyuktai Culture" and New World Origins ...
Current Anthropology, 1975
LARGE BLADES PRISMATIC BLADES EXHAUSTED CORE Fig. 2. Schematic cross-section depicting an origina... more LARGE BLADES PRISMATIC BLADES EXHAUSTED CORE Fig. 2. Schematic cross-section depicting an original obsidian cob-ble sheared into two hemispheres and the removal of flakes and blades down to the exhausted core. Sheets: behavioral analysis of flakes and blades ...
Encyclopedia of Archaeology, 2008
Serious research into the Palaeolithic cultures of Japan began in 1949, when discovery of stone t... more Serious research into the Palaeolithic cultures of Japan began in 1949, when discovery of stone tools by an amateur archaeologist led to an excavation at lwajuku, north of Tokyo. Once it was established that the Pleistocene formation of the archipelago contain evidence of human activity, in spite of frequent volcanic activities, Palaeolithic sites were discovered at a rapid rate. Palaeolithic remains are now known at over 5000 sites, a rather large number for the small area totalling about 370 000 km2. The assemblages are also relatively well-dated, as they are often situated in strata defined by radiometrically-dated pumice horizons, even though organic materials suitable for radio-carbon dating are rarely preserved in the acid soil. Paucity of plant and animal remains in the archaeological records make it necessary to relay almost exclusively on stone tools to elucidate human activities during the Pleistocene in the Japanese Archipelago. Between 1973 and 2000, a series of sensational finds were made, purporting to indicate the presence of early humans in Japan as much as 600 000 years ago. They turned out to be the results of fraud perpetrated by an amateur who planted genuine, but later, stone tools in earlier geological formations. Discounting all the finds in which this amateur took part leaves only a handful of assemblages that suggest that humans may have reached the archipelago before 35 000 BP. It is convenient to divide the overwhenlming majority of the remaining assemblages into three groups: Late Palaeolithic I, from 35 000 to 28 000 BP; Late Palaeolithic II, from 28 000 to 20 000 BP; and Late Palaeolithic III, after 20 000 BP. The earliest group account for less than 1% of the assemblages, and is characterized by retouched and unretouched flakes and edge-ground axes. A temporary thinning of population right after the AT tephra fall of about 28 000 BP is followed by a dramatic increase in the human population and diversity of tool-making techniques during the cooling climate that marked Late Palaeolithic II. Regularly-shaped tool blanks, produced by the ‘blade technique’, were then made into a variety of tools to perform specific tasks. In addition to functional variability, there was a large range of what appears to be stylistic diversity in the stone tools, making it possible to distinguished several style zones. The predominant artifact types of the Late Palaeolithic III, after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) of about 20 000 years ago, were microblades set in shafts made of bone or antler, used as spearheads, even though the complex reduction sequence for producing microblades was actually present just before the LGM in Hokkaido. Bifacial leaf-shaped points were also present, sometimes in association with microblades. To this assemblage diversity is added the baked clay vessels, about 16 000 BP, which marks the end of the Palaeolithic, and the beginning of the Jomon Period.
World Archaeology, Feb 1, 1982
Antiquity, 1999
Many authors have remarked that archaeology in East Asia is part of the discipline of history (Ch... more Many authors have remarked that archaeology in East Asia is part of the discipline of history (Chang 1981: 148; Ikawa-Smith 1975: 15; Nelson 1995: 218; Olsen 1987: 282–3; Von Falkenhausen 1993). Furthermore, it is more ‘locally focussed’ (Barnes 1993: 40), with most of the practising archaeologists investigating archaeological remains within their own national boundaries. To paraphrase the famous statement by North American archaeologists, ‘American archaeology is anthropology or it is nothing’ (Willey & Phillips 1957: 2), into ‘East Asian archaeology is national history or it is nothing’ would be an overstatement, but it is not too far from the reality. The major goal of archaeology in East Asia is to enhance understanding of a nation's past, by increasing its temporal depth. In other words, construction of national identity is the prime business of archaeology in East Asia.
Current Anthropology, 1985
Zhoukoudian is often cited as yielding some of the earliest evidence for the use of fire and as d... more Zhoukoudian is often cited as yielding some of the earliest evidence for the use of fire and as documenting" man the hunter" living in caves during the Middle Pleistocene. In addition, it is commonly believed that this important Chinese site documents cannibalism on the part of ...
The Archaeology of Asia-Pacific Navigation, 2022
Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2020
Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology, 2017
In spite of the relatively short history of systematic research that started in the late 1940s, a... more In spite of the relatively short history of systematic research that started in the late 1940s, and the negative impact of the Fujimura’s frauds exposed in 2000, Paleolithic remains are known from over 14,500 sites in the Japanese Archipelago today. During the cold phases of the Pleistocene, the four major islands of the Japanese Archipelago merged into two: the Paleo-Honshu Island, consisting of the present Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu Islands, and the Paleo-Sakhalin-Hokkaido-Kurile Peninsula, connected to the Russian Continent. Due to the volcanic nature of the soils, however, hominin fossils are recovered from only a handful of the sites. They suggest that the Ryukyu Islands were populated by people with affinities with Southeast Asia and/or Austro-Melanesian region by about 25,000 cal. years ago, who seem to have co-existed with another group who arrived later in the Pleistocene from elsewhere in Asia. Two waves of population arrivals are also indicated by the available evidence from the single hominid site of Mikkabi on Honshu. The archaeological assemblages, consisting almost exclusively of stone tools, may be divided into 3 segments: Early Paleolithic (until 40,000 cal. BP), Late Paleolithic I (40,000–30,000 cal. BP), and Late Paleolithic II (30,000–16,000/10,000 cal. BP). The Early Paleolithic segment is represented by about 50 assemblages, composed of amorphous flakes and pebble tools. While they are not dissimilar to early assemblages elsewhere in Asia, archaeological opinions are divided as to their artifactual nature. There is consensus as to the occupation of the Archipelago by the behaviorally modern humans during the Late Peleolithic, after 40,000 cal. BP. During Late Paleolithic I, represented by about 500 assemblages, amorphous flakes continue, with the addition of blade-like tools, and edge-ground axes in some parts of the Archipelago. Trap-pits and indirect evidence for the use of watercraft are also present. The Aira-Tanzawa Tephra, the widespread horizon-marker tephra originating from the massive volcanic eruption in southern Kyushu, marks the beginning of Late Paleolithic II, to which the overwhelming majority of the Paleolithic assemblages belongs. The densely packed human groups, more sedentary after the extinction of large mammals, are highly diversified, in terms of the primary as well as secondary reduction techniques. Active interaction with the Asian mainland via the Korean Peninsula and through the Hokkaido-Sakhalin Peninsula is indicated by similarities in lithic artifacts and by the movement of lithic raw materials. The Paleolithic Period ends with the appearance of ceramics in the Paleo-Honshu about 16,000 cal. BP, and in Hokkaido and the Ryukyus about 10,000 cal. BP.
This 222 page paperbound volume dedicated to the late Richard G. Morlan contains 12 chapters deta... more This 222 page paperbound volume dedicated to the late Richard G. Morlan contains 12 chapters detailing the complexities of the various microblade technologies found throughout northeast Asia and northwestern North America over the past 30,000 or more years, and gives their distributions in time and space. All of the types and many examples are illustrated with line drawings or photographs and their distributions and frequencies are shown using maps and graphs. Discussions center around origin, use, and meaning in the contexts of culture history and environmental adaptations.
Sample from Table of Contents: Foreword by Fumiko Ikawa-Smith Preface Hiroshi Itoh Chapter 1: You... more Sample from Table of Contents: Foreword by Fumiko Ikawa-Smith Preface Hiroshi Itoh Chapter 1: Youth Culture - Hiroshi Itoh and Tatsuo Arai Reading 1: The Precariat as proletarian Literature: Poverty and Youth Culture - Shigemi Nakagawa Chapter 2: Youth Labor - Bernard Bernier Reading 2: Temporary Workers' Unions and Political Representation Vincent Mirza Chapter 3: Juvenile Criminal Justice - Hiroshi ltoh Reading 3: Youth Madness and the Invisible Monster: Juvenile Delinquency in Japan - Akane D'Orangeville Chapter 4: Young Women Bernard Bernier and Hiroshi Itoh Reading 4: What do Young Japanese Women Think of Marriage, Work and Career? Bernard Bernier and more.
American Anthropologist, 1966
Anthropologie et Sociétés, 1990
Résumé L'idéologie de l'homogénéité culturelle dans l'archéologie préhistorique japon... more Résumé L'idéologie de l'homogénéité culturelle dans l'archéologie préhistorique japonaise De nombreux Japonais, y compris un ancien premier ministre dont la remarque causa un remous international, affirment que la force de la nation japonaise réside dans son homogénéité culturelle et ethnique. L'idée selon laquelle une petite nation insulaire disposant d'un réseau rapide de communication peut développer une culture homogène est vraisemblable dans le contexte contemporain ; cependant, cela n'a pas toujours été le cas dans le passé. Si, encore aujourd'hui, l'homogénéité culturelle et ethnique du Japon semble réelle, c'est uniquement parce que l'existence de minorités culturelles et ethniques est évacuée de la conscience de la majorité des Japonais. L'idéologie de l'homogénéité culturelle se reflète non seulement dans les politiques nationales d'immigration et de citoyenneté, mais aussi dans la façon dont les données archéologiques so...
Early Paleolithic in South and East Asia
Abstract: The Early Paleolithic in Japan occurs below the Tachikawa Loam Formation of the souther... more Abstract: The Early Paleolithic in Japan occurs below the Tachikawa Loam Formation of the southern Kanto Plain, and covers the general time frame of the Lower, Middle, and early Upper Paleolithic of Western Europe. Substantial disagreements about Paleolithic finds ...
Uploads
Papers by Fumiko Ikawa-Smith