Showing papers in "Asian Perspectives in 2010"
TL;DR: In this article, the first geochemical analysis of a significant assemblage of West New Britain obsidian south of the Solomon Islands was performed and a single artifact from the Lapita-period Mopir obsidian artifact was found.
Abstract: Fifty-six obsidian artifacts and 141 non-obsidian artifacts were excavated in three field seasons at Teouma, Efate Island, central Vanuatu. Using LA-ICP-MS the majority of the obsidian artifacts were provenienced to the obsidian subsource of Kutau/Bao on West New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. This study is the first geochemical analysis of a significant assemblage of West New Britain obsidian south of the Solomon Islands. Moreover, this finding represents only the second sizable assemblage of West New Britain obsidian in Remote Oceania beyond the Reefs–Santa Cruz Lapita sites and further establishes Vanuatu as a key area in understanding the initial Lapita settlement of Remote Oceania. Six obsidian artifacts were sourced to the Banks Islands, northern Vanuatu, supporting the hypothesis that sources there were known and utilized from the initial colonization of the Vanuatu Archipelago. A single artifact from the West New Britain subsource of Mopir was found. This is the only Lapita-period Mopir obsidian artifact found so far outside the Bismarck Archipelago. The geochemical analysis was accompanied by a quantitative attribute analysis investigating the reduction technology of the flaked assemblage.
31 citations
TL;DR: The work of novice crafters can be discerned through attributes of small size, asymmetrical forms, and other deficiencies in manufacturing techniques suggesting inadequate conceptual frames as well as less developed physical skills as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: It is only in the recent decade that distinct archaeological studies on children have emerged. One of the ways in which children have been made archaeologically visible has been in the context of craft and learning frameworks where they have been perceived as active agents in the production of material culture. Archaeologically, the work of novice crafters can be discerned through attributes of small size, asymmetrical forms, and other deficiencies in manufacturing techniques suggesting inadequate conceptual frames as well as less developed physical skills. The deposits recovered during the excavations in the northwestern part of the ancient site of Indor Khera have been dated between 200 b.c. and a.d. 300. The excavations have revealed in an early phase a potter's house within and around which several miniature vessels with similar characteristics were found, perhaps the work of children. Further, numerous tiny terracotta and clay lumps indicate that to begin children might have been given small bits of clay to play with. It appears that the ceramic craft may have involved a gradual learning process that included play, observation, and experimentation.
25 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined diachronic patterns in diet and subsistence practices of local nomadic pastoralists in the Cis-Baikal region of eastern Siberia and found that the primary domesticates in all periods were sheep, goats, cattle, and horses.
Abstract: Roughly 3000 years ago, nomadic pastoralists began to arrive in the Cis-Baikal region of eastern Siberia. While the archaeological record of these groups is quite extensive, most research on pastoralists here has focused on mortuary traditions while questions about subsistence practices have been left largely unaddressed. Few habitation sites from the late Holocene here contain stratified deposits, and virtually none have been subject to modern excavation methods or zooarchaeological analyses. We present new faunal data from the recently excavated Sagan-Zaba II site located on the west coast of Lake Baikal. This site offers a unique opportunity to examine diachronic patterns in diet and subsistence practices of local pastoralists. It contains stratified deposits associated with different periods of pastoralist occupation spanning much of the late Holocene. Significantly, it is the first site of this period in the region to be screened with fine-meshed sieves and to be systematically studied by zooarchaeologists. The results of our research reveal a series of new insights on pastoralist subsistence practices. First, the primary domesticates in all periods were sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. Cattle appear to increase through time at the site while horses remained relatively rare. Second, pastoralists at Sagan-Zaba regularly hunted Lake Baikal's freshwater seals, long after the introduction of domesticated livestock. Third, hunting of terrestrial mammals, particularly roe deer and red deer, was also common at the site. Finally, our data demonstrate that pastoralists here also regularly fished. This subsistence practice was previously unrecognized in the region, likely due to lack of sieving of sites. Furthermore, these data suggest that historically documented fishing by modern local pastoralists and increases in sedentism were not completely the result of Russian-period settlement of the region but instead were occurring in Cis-Baikal long prior to the modern era.
23 citations
TL;DR: The earliest pottery in this region is tentatively dated to approximately 12,000 years ago, characterized by thick, crumbled walls built by hand pinching and without decoration as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Potsherds of thick walls with coarse inclusions have been found in several archaeological sites in South China, associated with flaked or ground stone tools and ground organic implements. This paper focuses on the natural and cultural contexts, the chronology, and the characteristics of the early pottery found in South China, as well as the impetus to the origin of pottery and several related issues. It is argued that the earliest potters in South China were affluent foragers, who lived on diversified natural resources and were members of egalitarian societies. The earliest pottery in this region is tentatively dated to approximately 12,000 years ago, characterized by thick, crumbled walls built by hand pinching and without decoration. Although potsherds found in South China may not be the earliest in terms of the absolute dates, they represent the very beginning of pottery manufacturing as a technological invention from the terminal Pleistocene to the early Holocene in southern East Asia. Based on current archaeological data and the results of multi-disciplinary analyses, it is argued that South China seems to have been an area for the origin of pottery, which might have been associated with subsistence strategy changes. Furthermore, there might have been cultural exchanges between the prehistoric potters in South China and those in adjacent areas.
21 citations
TL;DR: Kok Samrong-Takhli Undulating Terrain (KSTUT) survey as discussed by the authors has revealed unexpected patterns of land use and settlement systems in Thailand that existed throughout the period of technological change incorporating the bronze and iron ages have not yet been investigated from a heterarchical viewpoint.
Abstract: Southeast Asia is one major region where applications of sociopolitical frameworks emphasizing progressive development and increasing degrees of social hierarchy have been argued as inadequate for understanding past societies. Settlement systems in Thailand that existed throughout the period of technological change incorporating the bronze and iron ages have not yet been investigated from a heterarchical viewpoint. While reconnaissance and systematic surveys conducted over the past few decades in Thailand have discovered hundreds of prehistoric sites, a recent survey stressing intensive methodologies to test heterarchical and hierarchical frameworks for best fit with settlement patterns in the region of Kok Samrong-Takhli Undulating Terrain (KSTUT) in the eastern side of the Upper Chao Phraya River Valley has revealed unexpected patterns of land use and settlement systems. This article discusses the methodology and results of the KSTUT Survey in central Thailand. A two-stage survey, a reconnaissance survey followed by a 58 km2 intensive survey, was conducted in order to locate sites across different landscapes, to identify subregional ceramic variation and possibly geographic shifts in ceramic subregions over time, and to determine evidence for economic specialization among sites of varying sizes. The 25 sites dating between 2000 b.c. and a.d. 1000 provide evidence for a prehistoric settlement system emphasizing long-lived, often large, but heterarchically related occupations. Sharp changes including the appearance of site hierarchy occurred rapidly just prior to the protohistoric period c. a.d. 400, about 1000 years later than previously thought.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it is suggested that during the Terminal Pleistocene in central Honshu, which coincided temporally with the emergence of pottery, lithic raw material reduction sequences ceased to be rational and economical, instead becoming expedient and wasteful.
Abstract: During the Terminal Pleistocene in central Honshu, which coincided temporally with the emergence of pottery, lithic raw material reduction sequences ceased to be rational and economical, instead becoming expedient and wasteful. Furthermore, hunter-gatherers had stopped importing lithic raw materials over long distances, and attempts made previously to attain a maximum number of usable edges on artifacts upon one nodule had ceased. Their reduction sequences might have no longer required a sparing strategy, since they now used abundant local raw materials, probably due to reduced mobility. It is suggested that the emergence of pottery allowed them to exploit more diverse plant sources and enabled them to survive within smaller territories, while the lithic reduction strategies changed as they adapted to use of available lithic raw materials.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reconstruct the lithic reduction sequence of the microblade assemblage from the Okushirataki-1 site, Hokkaido, northern Japan, and discuss the relationship between the technological variability of the reduction sequences and the morphological features of lithic raw materials, through with the assessment of numerous refitted materials.
Abstract: In this article, I attempt to reconstruct the lithic reduction sequence of the microblade assemblage from the Okushirataki-1 site, Hokkaido, northern Japan, and to discuss the relationship between the technological variability of lithic reduction sequences and the morphological features of lithic raw materials, through with the assessment of numerous refitted materials. In terms of results, the refitted materials from this assemblage show that the detaching of microblades inevitably connects with the removal of blades in the course of the reduction sequence. Additionally, the presence and content of core preparations or rejuvenations on the flaked surfaces may have a significant role in the formation of variety among the blade and microblade reduction sequences. Therefore, it is not appropriate to compare the lithic assemblages and examine inter-site variability only through the analysis of morphological attributes reflected in the reduction sequence, which has been the focus of previous techno-typological approaches.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the direction of tool movement of end scrapers used by Palaeolithic peoples for hide-working in the Japanese Islands was examined using a method combining the high power approach of lithic use-wear analysis with a replication technique for measuring the edge angle and the use angle.
Abstract: This article examines the direction of tool movement of end scrapers used by Palaeolithic peoples for hide-working in the Japanese Islands. Specimens are approximately 400 end scrapers from three sites dated to the first half of the late Palaeolithic in Hokkaido, northern Japan. As a result of examination using a method combining the high-power approach of lithic use-wear analysis with a replication technique for measuring the edge angle and the use angle, it was clarified that end scrapers were used only for hideworking. They were classified into four groups: (1) relatively short end scrapers used in a pulling motion (group A); (2) relatively short end scrapers used in a pushing motion (group B); (3) relatively long and large end scrapers used in a pulling motion (group C); and (4) relatively long and large end scrapers used in a pushing motion (group D). Groups B and D (i.e., for pushing motion) are dominant among whole specimens. This study will contribute significantly to the investigation of tool use strategies, curation systems, and the reduction sequences of end scrapers when compared with results of techno-morphological research. At the same time, the methodology performed for this article enabled to change of needs for hide products in prehistoric society.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a chronology is established for the region, outlining three stages known as chronological stages 1 to 3, and the role of trapezoids and knife-shaped blades, lithic raw materials (especially locally available siliceous shale), and their environments in understanding lithic technology, food procurement strategies and lithic resource exploitation in each chronological stage.
Abstract: This paper explores the organization of foraging territories of populations in early Upper Palaeolithic northeastern Japan First, a chronology is established for the region, outlining three stages known as chronological stages 1 to 3 This is followed by a discussion of the role of trapezoids and knife-shaped blades, lithic raw materials (especially locally available siliceous shale), and their environments in understanding lithic technology, food procurement strategies, and lithic resource exploitation in each chronological stage Various site types are categorized by examination of tool composition, procurement and consumption of foods, and lithic raw materials in each site The results of this analysis indicate that foraging territories have been reorganized three times, corresponding with each chronological stage Transformations in foraging territories are associated with changing tool types, lithic technology, exploitation of lithic raw materials, and food procurement strategies, representing the adaptation of human populations to environmental fluctuation in early Upper Palaeolithic
6 citations
TL;DR: A review of research trajectories in the accumulation of a Palaeolithic record, specifically in terms of changes in relationships among academic archaeologists, government archaeology, the public, and mass media is presented in this article.
Abstract: An expansion in archaeological excavations and site identifications over the last 30 years, particularly through an increase in salvage projects and the growth of government archaeology in Japan, has made the Japanese Islands one of the most dense regions of Palaeolithic archaeological sites in East Asia. The history of Pleistocene site discoveries and chronological frameworks for Palaeolithic lithic industries are summarized, followed by a critical review of research trajectories in the accumulation of a Palaeolithic record, specifically in terms of changes in relationships among academic archaeology, government archaeology, the public, and mass media. This article also attempts to clarify the peculiar structure of current Japanese archaeology that allowed the construction of a falsified Palaeolithic prehistory by some unscrupulous researchers for 20 years until its sensational exposure by a national daily in 2000.
6 citations
TL;DR: In order to obtain a better understanding of the intentional thermal alteration of Palaeolithic materials in the northeastern region of Japan, heating experiments were carried out on two types of shale samples Mechanical properties such as strength and hardness as well as surface morphology were analyzed before and after heating as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In order to obtain a better understanding of the intentional thermal alteration of Palaeolithic materials in the northeastern region of Japan, heating experiments were carried out on two types of shale samples Mechanical properties such as strength and hardness as well as surface morphology were analyzed before and after heating As a result, a functional change was observed in mechanical factors after heating A hard shale sample comprising small grains exhibited a significant decrease in strength and noticeable increase in hardness after heating On the other hand, shale comprising larger crystal grains exhibited an increase in both strength and hardness values Moreover, smoother surfaces were observed through SEM analysis in both samples after heating These results lead us to the conclusion that the heating process, especially in the case of harder shale with higher strength values, might have modified material properties such as flaking characteristics as well as functional attributes that are relevant to hardness
TL;DR: The results of the study thus far suggest that the artifacts from Gua Pawon were made using obsidian obtained from both Gunung Kendan and Kampung Rejeng sources, while those from Dago and Bukit Karsamanik have yet to be determined.
Abstract: This article presents the results of a study to determine whether the obsidian artifacts found in Gua Pawon, Dago, and Bukit Karsamanik in Bandung came from the well-known sources of Gunung Kendan in Nagreg, Kampung Rejeng in Garut, or elsewhere. Obsidian artifacts for this study were obtained from earlier archaeological excavations at Gua Pawon and from chance finds at the sites of Dago and Bukit Karsamanik in Bandung. Samples of obsidian were also collected from the known obsidian sources in Gunung Kendan in Nagreg and Kampung Rejeng in Garut for comparative purposes. Analyses of these samples were done on a scanning electron microscope using the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer at the University of Science Malaysia, Penang, and the electron microprobe at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Multi-element analysis was undertaken, and statistical procedures were performed on data obtained from the artifacts and the sources. The results of the study thus far suggest that the obsidian artifacts from Gua Pawon were made using obsidian obtained from both Gunung Kendan and Kampung Rejeng sources, while those from Dago and Bukit Karsamanik have yet to be determined. More samples from all the known obsidian sources are needed to determine the variability within and between all the different sources. Temporally, the study also revealed that prehistoric humans at Gua Pawon exploited the same obsidian resources over several thousands of years.
TL;DR: In this article, the early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) assemblage transitions during the Musashino Upland by quantitative comparisons of lithic raw materials, core reduction (blade technology), and formal tool production were investigated.
Abstract: This article explains lithic assemblage transitions during the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) on the Musashino Upland by quantitative comparisons of lithic raw materials, core reduction (blade technology), and formal tool production. The results suggest that changes in aspects of lithic assemblage variability could be explained by changes in raw material utilization, not developments (sophistication of tool-making skills) in blade technology and methods of formal tool production. The results also indicate the possibility that the changes in lithic raw material would have been affected by changes in residential mobility and the foraging territorial scale of EUP hunter-gatherers, as well as the changes in organic raw material utilization in whole technological organization in various environmental settings during the EUP. Beside them, the characteristics of the lithic assemblages in Period I as the initial EUP assemblages in this region are different from general characteristics of Upper Palaeolithic assemblages (blade technology, standardized and formal flaked tools) in Eurasia. The nature of lithic raw material utilization, especially flaked tool use, in Period I assemblages looks extremely expedient. Therefore, the characteristics of initial EUP assemblages in this region represent that diversity in lithic raw material utilization and technological organization was present during the EUP.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a comprehensive overview of the current information relating to the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and genetics on human evolution and migration, focusing on the strength of evidence for colonization of South Asia from outside as opposed to contributions made by the indigenous people.
Abstract: The evolution of humans from primates is well attested in Africa, considered to be the only place where the ancestors of modern humans could have evolved. The most ancestral human form, Homo erectus , is also thought to have migrated out of Africa. Recent genetic research has added support to an "Out of Africa" migration of modern man. However, the latest findings of population genetics have, by challenging the route of exodus, placed Asia and especially South Asia in a particularly prominent position. This new idea that humans emerging out of Africa undertook a long journey along the coasts of Asia toward Australia has also received recent support from archaeology. The long-standing belief that modern humans reached Europe by first journeying through the Levant, was based on the discovery of modern looking skeletons in southern France. This discovery of the "Cro-Magnons" in France spurred an intense search for more evidence of human presence in Europe. The wealth of data thus accumulated in Africa and Europe has formed the basis for all the discussion on human evolution and migration. Asia by contrast has suffered neglect both in terms of lack of interest and exploration of the same magnitude accorded Africa and Europe. What evidence exists has only attracted passing notice, the bulk of the data eluding the attention of western scholars. This article attempts to address this imbalance by bringing together all current information relating to the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and genetics. The area covered is by size enormous, but the focus is on the strength of evidence for colonization of South Asia from outside as opposed to contributions made by the indigenous people.
TL;DR: The Tana-Mukaihara site is located on the left bank of the Sagami River in the Sagamino Upland in southern Kanto Plain (Honshu, Japan).
Abstract: The Tana-Mukaihara site is located on the left bank of the Sagami River in the Sagamino Upland in southern Kanto Plain (Honshu, Japan). In addition to the two lithic scatters (mainly composed of obsidian debitage and tools) and two pebble clusters, the site has been recognized as a prominent Upper Palaeolithic site (c. 20,000 cal.y.b.p .) because of an exceptional pebble-surrounded habitation area identified as a dwelling structure, 12 postholes, and two hearths. The purpose of this article is to examine human activities in this Palaeolithic dwelling site through the analysis of thermally altered obsidian artifacts and their spatial distributions. The results show that thermally altered obsidian artifacts are not only concentrated around the hearths, but also in the postholes, suggesting that the so-called postholes indeed functioned as hearths with the other two hearths. This study provides new insight into the reality of Palaeolithic dwelling structures in the Japanese Islands.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the mortuary practices at the Hageori site and attempt to explain how and why they changed over time using archaeological data and a literature review.
Abstract: Archaeological excavations conducted in 1997–1998 at the Hageori site in central Korea uncovered a total of 63 burials. The range of dates for the burials varies widely. Mortuary analysis was conducted on 24 burials thought to date sometime between the fifth and seventh century a.d. According to the archaeological data, mortuary practices at the site changed through time from multiple burials (in a side-passage stone-chamber tomb) to single burials. This article describes the mortuary practices at the site and attempts to explain how and why they changed over time. Using archaeological data and a literature review, the ethnic group of the tomb builders is inferred. In addition, attention is given to examining the relationship between energy expenditure and social stratification based on stylistic variation of the burials discovered at the site.