East Asian Studies (closed)

As scientific archaeology takes hold in Japan, our understanding of the nature and content of Japanese prehistory is changing radically. All of the period boundaries of Japanese prehistory are being rewritten, and many new “archaeologies” are growing up around particular scientific techniques. New publications in English give greater access to archaeological thinking in Japan, while Japanese publications focus on ever-narrowing aspects of prehistoric lifeways. Policy changes are giving archaeologists more access to the imperial tombs, and rescue teams are under less obligation to “save everything” as selective preservation is instituted.

Results of the magnetic survey with a fluxgate gradiometer of the lower terrace site. 'X' marks the position of a rubbish incinerator that existed at the time of the survey. The adjacent areas of high magnetic signal are most likely the result of surface bonfires from other recent burning of refuse.

Archaeologists and historians working on topics such as agricultural technology, resource distribution, settlement patterns, raw materials procurement, artifact analysis and natural disasters are automatically involved in geological questions. The geologic history of the Japanese Islands is, therefore, of basic importance to our enquiries, but those interests are poorly served by the current literature available. It is difficult to find an overview that is up to date and whose contents are both comprehensive and understandable to lay readers who are not geologists. Some texts of recent publication still subscribe, in whole or in part, to the discarded paradigm of Geosyncline Theory rather than the current Global (Plate) Tectonics Theory. Even Japanese school texts of the 1990s still used a hodge-podge of geosyncline and plate tectonics theory. The time lag in adopting the framework of plate tectonics can perhaps be laid at the feet of Confucian-style scholarship, but it has not served Japanese geology well. Nevertheless, persistent scholarship by the progressive plate tectonicists and their protégés-the group of young geophysicists calling themselves the "geokids"-have now revolutionized views on the formation of the Japanese landmass. This article attempts to put Japanese Studies researchers in touch with these exciting new developments, paving the way for an increased understanding of the nature of Japanese geology and how it has affected lifestyles throughout the ages.

This article was written in 1983 and published in English in Archaeology in Korea 10: 40-51. It was thought important and still valid enough to have been translated into Korean by KIM Gyong Taek and published in Archaeology: Journal of the Seoul-Gyeonggi Archaeological Society,  2.2:47-55 (2003). The article here for downloading is the Korean version.

An important but often over-looked facet of protection is the investigation of archaeological resources by qualified researchers. The Japanese government has made long strides in taking on the responsibility of actively training personnel and providing for good research conditions to carry out such investigations; and the Centre for Archaeological Operations is an exemplary model for government involvement in archaeological activities.

Japan Society Newsletter December 1990: 2-7. This version has fewer illustrations than the full chapter as published In E.H. Weeder (ed.) The Rise of a Great Tradition: Japanese archaeological ceramics from the Jomon through Heian periods (10,500 BC-AD 1185), pp. 28-39. Tokyo/New York: Agency for Cultural Affairs, Govt. of Japan/Japan Society (1990). [available above]

The Miwa Project Report was published in 1993 as a British Archaeological Report (International Series 582). It is still available through Archaeopress for £59.00.
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The work is copyright by Gina L. Barnes & Masaaki OKITA. The illustrations can be used in other publications, given appropriate citation.

I have uploaded here the Table of Contents (ToC) and those parts of the report for which I am author or co-author. The full report contains tremendous more information including all the excavation data in appendices.

The work at the Miwa site required an excavation permit. I was encouraged by my Japanese colleagues to apply for it under my own name. To my knowledge, this is the first and only excavation permit granted to a foreigner not employed in Japan. I am sad that no one else seems to have followed suit. Mind you, I worked with these colleagues for 15 years before establishing the project, and it takes this kind of networking and building of relationships with colleagues before such a thing can happen. Speaking fluent Japanese was also essential.

The constructs and analyses used by many of the Japanese authors are somewhat different to Western practices. They are useful to understand the way archaeology was conducted in Japan. Note, however, that this volume is now 20 years old; things have changed.

In particular, all the affiliations and contact information of authors are likely to be out of date. Please double check before attributing anything.

GLB 29jan’15