Tectonic Archaeology: preface & table of contents

Asian Perspectives, 2017

Tsunami damage to archaeological sites in Japan has been recognized since the 1980s, but the Great Tōhoku-oki Earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011 stimulated geologists and archaeologists to find evidence of previous tsunami in Japan, investigate the responses of earlier inhabitants to tsunami, and assess the probability of future occurrences. Excavated sites on the Sendai Plain, partially inundated in this recent tsunami, have been crucial in this endeavor, with recovered data at times contradicting historical sources. Great progress has been made in the science of identifying tsunami deposits and understanding their nature and distribution, aiding in their recognition at archaeological sites. This article provides an introduction to the nature of tsunami waves and their causes, resources available for studying past tsunami worldwide, and difficulties in identifying tsunami sediments. Seventeen case studies of sites where tsunami deposits have been investigated throughout the Japanese and Ryukyu archipelagos are presented. Tsunami can be included within my conception of 'tectonic archaeology,' archaeology that must methodologically deal with the influence of plate tectonics on the islands. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and most tsunami relate to the subduction zone setting of Japan; thus, to fully understand the site remains of previous tectonically derived disasters demands knowledge of plate tectonics, seismology, volcanology, sedimentology, and wave physics among others. Integrating these spheres of knowledge into archaeological research opens new avenues of interpretation, including understanding why many Middle Yayoi settlements on the Sendai Plain were abandoned, not to be reoccupied for 400 years. KEYWORDS: tsunami, Japan, tsunami archaeology, Japanese archaeology, disaster archaeology, tectonic archaeology. FROM TECTONIC ARCHAEOLOGY TO DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY GIVEN THE PLACEMENT OF THE JAPANESE ISLANDS ACROSS FOUR TECTONIC PLATES SEPARATED BY TWO PLATE SUBDUCTION ZONES, it is hardly surprising that tectonic forces have acted on past as well as present inhabitants (Barnes 2015a). Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and most tsunami have tectonic origins. The first two of these have given

Pp.21-42 in "Environment and Society in the Japanese Islands", ed. by Philip Brown and Bruce Batten. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press., 2015

2008

In Sintubin, M.; Stewart, I.S.; Niemi, T.M.; and Altunel, E., eds. Ancient Earthquakes. Geological Society of America Special Paper 471, p. 81-96, 2010

Earthquake archaeology developed in Japan simultaneously with that in the Mediterranean in the mid-1980s. By 1996, evidence of earthquake occurrence had been documented at 378 sites throughout the archipelago. The main features identified include various results of liquefaction, faults, landslips, and surface cracking. This evidence differs greatly from the standard Mediterranean focus on building damage, and the reasons for the very different natures of archaeoseismology in these world regions are explained herein. This article recounts the development of this new subfield, inspired by the interest of geomorphologist Sangawa Akira and taken to its most recent advances in identifying soft-sediment deformation structures by geoarchaeologist Matsuda Jun-ichirō. The evidence of earthquake activity at archaeological sites can be matched with earthquakes caused by either active fault movement or subduction. The historical record of earthquake occurrence, already documented back to 599 C.E., is extended into the prehistorical record through relative dating of artifacts and features on archaeological sites. Both the identification and the dating of the archaeological evidence of earthquakes can be challenged, though the “territorial approach” gives the data a significance that is not achieved through analysis of single sites.

The AD 1498 Meio earthquake (M8.2∼8.4) that occurred along the eastern Nankai trough, and the tsunami generated by the earthquake, induced major geomorphological and social changes along the Pacific coast of central Japan. Geological coring along the palaeochannel of the Hamana River, southern Shizuoka Prefecture, revealed that its river mouth was abruptly closed followed by a rapid change from river to marsh environment at the end of the 15th century. It is suggested that mass transport of sediments by the Meio tsunami forced the closure of the river mouth. The latter environmental change happened synchronously with the sudden decline of a famous port town, Hashimoto, formerly flourishing along the middle reach of Hamana River. Closure of the water route connecting Hashimoto with the Pacific Ocean potentially led to the decline and abandonment of the port town.

1. OZAWA Takeshi p.2 The drainage project at the Clausthal mine in the 17th century and the contributions of the Japanese mining engineer, Peter Hartzing (1637-1680) 2. YAMADA Toshihiro p. 9 Diary Discovered: Mochizuki Katsumi (1905-1963), His Hidden Contributions to the History of the Geosciences in Japan

Quaternary International, 2013

The AD 1498 Meio earthquake (M8.2w8.4) that occurred along the eastern Nankai trough, and the tsunami generated by the earthquake, induced major geomorphological and social changes along the Pacific coast of central Japan. Geological coring along the palaeochannel of the Hamana River, southern Shizuoka Prefecture, revealed that its river mouth was abruptly closed followed by a rapid change from river to marsh environment at the end of the 15th century. It is suggested that mass transport of sediments by the Meio tsunami forced the closure of the river mouth. The latter environmental change happened synchronously with the sudden decline of a famous port town, Hashimoto, formerly flourishing along the middle reach of Hamana River. Closure of the water route connecting Hashimoto with the Pacific Ocean potentially led to the decline and abandonment of the port town.

This is a summary by Dr. David Book (c) of my lecture on 15 June 2013 for the Harrow & Hillingdon Geological Society

LAND, 2021

This article proposes a new subdiscipline, Tectonic Archaeology, based on the efforts of Japanese archaeologists to deal with the effects of earthquakes, volcanic tephra cover, and tsunami on archaeological sites. Tectonic Archaeology is conceived as an umbrella term for those efforts and as a foundation for Geoarchaeology in general. Comparisons distinguish between Geoarchaeology and Tectonic Archaeology, and a survey of major archaeological journals and textbooks reveals how the concept of ‘tectonics’ and specifically the processes of Plate Tectonics have been treated. Al-though the term ‘tectonics’ occurred fairly frequently, particularly as affecting coastlines and sea levels, it was not thoroughly defined and discussed. Volcanic activity was most mentioned in journals due to its provision of resources and modification of the landscape, while the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan seems to have stimulated more studies in Archaeoseismology. The textbooks were found to have scattered references to Plate Tectonic processes but no clear approach tying these together. The major exception is the Encyclopedia of Archaeology which addresses volcanoes, Archaeoseismology, and tsunami—soon to be linked together vis à vis Earth processes. Tectonic Archaeology attempts first to explain the processes of Plate Tectonics to underwrite investigation of their effects; it is applicable worldwide, in continental and coastal contexts.

2003

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.