Japanese Paleolithic
Encyclopedia : J : JA : JAP : Japanese Paleolithic
The covers a period from around 100,000 [[Citing sources citation needed]] to 30,000 BCE, when the earliest stone tool implements have been found, to around 12,000 BCE, at the end of the last Ice-age, which corresponds to the beginning of the Mesolithic Jomon Period. The 35,000 BCE date is most generally accepted: any date of human presence before 30,000-35,000 BCE is controversial, with artifacts supporting a pre-35,000 BCE human presence on the archipelago still being of questionable authencitiy.[link]
Paleolithic environment
The Japanese islands were probably connected to the Asian continent on several occasions in the past, especially during the coldest periods of the Ice Age, when the level of the sea would recede considerably, by around 100-120 meters. This point is not totally clear of controversy however since the Korea Strait between Japan and Korea, as well as the Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese main island of Honshu and Hokkaido are around 140 meters deep. It seems the straits sometimes cleared, and sometimes did not clear, during the various Ice Age peaks.Earliest Japanese tools
The earliest Japanese stone tools, chipped stone hand axes and cleavers, were found at the site of Kami-Takamori in Miyagi Prefecture, and dated to c. 500,000 BCE, but were later found to have been planted forgeries [link]. Most of the early Japanese Paleolithic finds however start after 35,000 BCE, making this date the most generally accepted for the first occupation of Japan.[link]Ground tools and polished tools
The Japanese Paleolithic is also highly original in that it incorporates the earliest known ground stone tools and polished stone tools in the world [[Citing sources citation needed]], dated to around 30,000 BCE, a technology typically associated with the beginning of the Neolithic, around 10,000 BCE, in the rest of the world. It is not known why such tools were created so early in Japan, although the period is associated with a warmer climate worldwide (30,000-20,000 before present), and the islands may have particularly benefited from it.
Because of this originality, the Japanese Paleolithic period in Japan does not exactly match the traditional definition of Paleolithic based on stone technology (chipped stone tools). Japanese Paleolithic tool implements thus display Mesolithic and Neolithic traits as early as 30,000 BCE.
Paleo-anthropology
The Paleolithic populations of Japan, as well as the later Jomon populations, appear to relate to an ancient Paleo-Asian group which occupied large parts of Asia before the expansion of the populations characteristic of today's people of China, Korea, Japan, or Vietnam.
Skeletal characteristics point to many similarities with other aboriginal people of the Asian continent. Dental structures belong to the Sundadont group, mainly distributed in ancient populations of South-East Asia (whether current populations belong to the Sinodont group). Skull features tend to be stronger, with comparatively recessed eyes.
The aboriginal populations of the Ainu, today mostly circumscribed to the northern island of Hokkaido, appear to be the descendants of these Paleolithic populations, and display features that have, in the past, been interpreted as Caucasoid, but today tend to be considered more generally as part of that early Paleolithic human stock.
Genetic analysis on today's populations is not clear cut and tends to indicate a fair amount of genetic intermixing between the original populations of Japan and later populations arrivals (Cavalli-Sforza). It is estimated that 10 to 20% of the genetic capital of the Japanese population today derives from aboriginal Paleolithic-Jomon ancestry, the remainder coming from later population contributions from the continent, especially during the Yayoi period.
Japanese archeology of the Paleolithic period
The study of the Paleolithic period in Japan was not begun until quite recently: the first paleolithic site was discovered right after the end of the Second World War. Due to the previous assumption that humans did not live in Japan before the Jōmon period, excavations usually stopped at the beginning of the Jōmon stratum (12,000 BCE), and were not carried on further. However, since that first paleolithic find, around 5,000 paleolithic sites have been discovered, some of them at existing Jōmon archeological sites.The study of the Japanese Paleolithic period is characterized by a high level of stratigraphic information due to the volcanic nature of the archipelago: large eruptions tend to cover the islands with levels of ash, which are easily datable and can be found throughout the country as a reference. A very important such layer is the AT (Aira-Tanzawa) pumice, which covered all Japan around 21,000-22,000 years ago.
Japanese archaeology of the Paleolithic has been mired by scandal. It was a subject relatively few Japanese archaeological students were interested in. Until the Japanese Paleolithic Hoax, the Japanese archaeological community believed humans were present on the archipelago as long as 700,000 BCE based on findings by Fujimura Shinichi. However, the Mainichi Shinbun newspaper planted a camera at an archaeological site and captured video of Fujimura planting artifacts at the Kamitakamori site in 2000. 90% of Paleolithic work in Japan was attributed to Fujimura, and the discovery of the hoax thus put serious doubt on the chronology of ancient man in Japan. The Japanese Archaeological Association spent two years exhaustively reexamining sites and artifacts attributed to Fujimura and concluded that of the 186 sites, 33 excavated sites, and all discoveries attributed to Fujimura, none could stand peer review. Since the discovery of the hoax, only a few sites can tentatively date human activity in Japan to 40-50,000 BCE, and the first widely accepted date of human presence on the archipelago can be reliably dated to 35,000 BCE [link]
Notes
References
- Prehistoric Japan, New perspectives on insular East Asia, Keiji Imamura, University of Hawai Press, Honolulu, ISBN 0824818539
- The History and Geography of Human Genes, Cavalli-Sforza, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691087504
- Ainu:Spirit of a Northern People, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, ISBN 0967342902
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.