Violence and warfare in prehistoric Japan

The origins and consequences of warfare or largescale intergroup violence have been subject of long debate. Based on exhaustive surveys of skeletal remains for prehistoric hunter-gatherers and agriculturists in Japan, the present study examines levels of inferred violence and their implications for two different evolutionary models, i.e., parochial altruism model and subsistence model. The former assumes that frequent warfare played an important role in the evolution of altruism and the latter sees warfare as promoted by social changes induced by agriculture. Our results are inconsistent with the parochial altruism model but consistent with the subsistence model, although the mortality values attributable to violence between hunter-gatherers and agriculturists were comparable

Correction to: ‘Violence in the prehistoric period of Japan: the spatio-temporal pattern of skeletal evidence for violence in the Jomon period’

Whether man is predisposed to lethal violence, ranging from homicide to warfare, and how that may have impacted human evolution, are among the most controversial topics of debate on human evolution. Although recent studies on the evolution of warfare have been based on various archaeological and ethnographic data, they have reported mixed results: it is unclear whether or notwarfare among prehistoric hunter–gathererswas common enough to be a component of human nature and a selective pressure for the evolution of human behaviour. This paper reports the mortality attributable to violence, and the spatio-temporal pattern of violence thus shown among ancient hunter–gatherers using skeletal evidence in prehistoric Japan (the Jomon period: 13 000 cal BC–800 cal BC). Our results suggest that the mortality due to violence was low and spatio-temporally highly restricted in the Jomon period, which implies that violence including warfare in prehistoric Japan was not common

Non-destructive Analysis of Ancient Bronze Swords Possessed at Archaeological Research Laboratory of Hiroshima University <Research and Studies at the Department of Archaeology: Article>

Eight ancient bronze swords possessed at archaeological research laboratory of Hiroshima University were investigated non-destructively. Gamma-ray radiography using 137Cs and 60Co were developed to obtain transmission images of swords. X-ray fluorescence analysis were applied for the characteristic and qualitative elemental analysis of the swords. Magnetic response were also utilized to know the distribution of iron cores. It has been identified that all bronze swords has iron cores inside of the grip part of the sword. Up to now, existence of iron cores were assumed as a ritual symbol or functional meaning, but, it has revealed that these swords had originally iron blade, which were replaced to present bronze blade just to raise the commercial value. The connecting part was soldered and painted in bronze color. These findings are deeply related to the process of the production of bimetal swords in ancient Iran. Further researches on the ancient bimetal swords are needed

広島大学考古学研究室所蔵の西アジア青銅柄鉄剣をめぐって

いわゆる「鉄芯」入り青銅剣（バイメタル青銅剣）とされてきた広島大学考古学研究室所蔵資料についての再調査を行う。バイメタル青銅剣は、紀元前800～1200ごろ年にカスピ海南部の山岳地帯において出現する金属器で、鉄利用の初期の様相を明らかにするうえで重要である。西アジア北部地域における鉄製利器の祖型として、鉄製棒状部品を内蔵する青銅剣（「鉄芯」入り青銅剣）の存在が指摘され、編年・機能研究が行われてきた。しかし、当該資料はおそらく現代において改変された青銅柄鉄剣であったことが判明した。他機関所蔵品の知見も加味すると、研究対象の多くに同様の可能性があり、「鉄芯入り」青銅剣を前提に導かれたこれまでの知見や議論は根本的な見直しを迫られることになる。紀元前2000年紀の終わりにカスピ海周辺に出現する「鉄芯入り」青銅剣が実は青銅柄鉄剣であったわけであり、それ以前に鉄製利器の導入期といった、より原初的な初期鉄器の実態がある可能性が高くなる。今回の再調査はそうした研究の脆弱性を露呈し、西アジアにおける初期鉄器時代の議論を転換する結果となった

Local communities of the Iron Age in northern Iran : Regional variation in forme and in chaîne opératoire, and function of the non-utilitarian pottery

En analysant le matériel provenant d’une région montagneuse qui s’étend au nord de l’Iran, nous étudions les sociétés locales de l’âge du Fer (fin du IIe - fin du Ier millénaire avant J.C.). Bien que l’on ait déjà noté les particularités de la culture matérielle de l’Iran septentrional par, il n’existe guère d’études synthétiques sur la culture matérielle, sa chronologie, et les représentations des sociétés qu’elles permettentNous utilisons des données anciennes, les unes publiées les autres inédites, et des données nouvelles : nous avons étudié les unes et les autres en Iran et au Japon. Quatre sujets sont traités : l’élaboration de la chronologie, la diversité régionale des céramiques, l’évolution des pratiques, et la distribution des sites.En nous fondant sur les résultats de ces analyses et sur le cadre méthodologique et les hypothèses de travail de l’ethnologie, de l’ethnoarchéologie et de la sociologie, nous tentons d’interpréter les céramiques particulières et les pratiques funéraires, qui sont considérés comme représentatifs de la culture matérielle de l’Iran septentrional, comme l’organisation sociale qui a permis d’organiser les relations entre les populations qui menaient une vie dispersée et fluide selon des conditions géographiques variées. On observe que l’organisation sociale n’a pas structuré la société locale de manière stable. Dans la deuxième moitié de l’âge du Fer, on peut considérer qu’avec la pénétration du nouvel ordre symbolique, la société locale qui vivait dans des conditions naturelles variées, les modes d’occupation ont évolué, ainsi que les traditions techniques. En même temps, avec l’évolution des pratiques funéraires vers la simplicité, les pratiques autour du bâtiment collectif se sont propagées dans l’espace de la région. Dans l’Iran septentrional, l’âge du Fer correspond historiquement à l’époque de ces évolutions structurelles des sociétés locales.Analyzing the material from a mountainous region of northern Iran, we investigate the image of a local society during the Iron Age (Late 2nd - late 1st millennium B.C.). Although the peculiarities of the material culture of that region have been recognized since long, there are not enough comprehensive studies on the material culture, chronology, and precise representations of the societies.For this purpose, we deal with old data, some published other unpublished, as well as new material including a lot of unpublished ones that we have studied in Iran and Japan. Four main topics are treated: chronology, change and regional diversity of pottery, evolution of practices, and distribution of sites. Based on the results of these analyses and on the methodological framework and working hypotheses deriving from the results of ethnology, ethno-archaeology and sociology, we try to interpret the peculiar ceramics and the funerary practices, which are considered as representative of the material culture of Northern Iran, as well as the social organization which permitted to maintain the relationship between the populations who fluidly and dispersed lived in that area which presents various geographic conditions. Finally, one concludes that the social organization did not structure in local society in a stable manner.In the second half of the Iron Age, we can consider that, with the penetration of the new symbolic order, the local society which lived under varied natural conditions, modes of occupation and habitation and technical traditions have changed. During the same period, with the evolution of funeral practices towards simplicity, practices in public spaces and buildings extended over the region. In northern Iran, the Iron Age historically corresponds to the time of these structural changes in local society

Excavation Report Chōja-Sukumozuka Kofun No. 1, Higashi-Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture (5th Campaign)

The Chōja-Sukumozuka mounded tomb group (kofun gun) is located in Saijō-chō (Saijō Basin), Higashi-Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. It consists of three burial mounds, but one (No. 3) has disappeared. After the initial survey, the Laboratory of Archaeology at the Hiroshima University conducted an excavation of mounded tomb No. 1 in 2020 to determine the composition of ceramic funerary sculptures (haniwa) placed on the mounded tomb, the setup location and the date of the mound construction. The survey revealed cylindrical haniwa (entō haniwa) and pebbles at the burial mound no. 1. In addition, due to the date of the excavated cylindrical haniwa, it may be assumed that the mounded tomb was built in the middle to last third of 4th century AD. Considering the method of construction of the mounded tombs in the Saijō Basin, we can find that even chiefly mounded tombs, which had box-shaped stone coffins (hakogata sekkan) in 4th century AD, were the “mound last” type of mounded tombs (mound construction is carried out at the end) or the “concurrent progression” type of mounded tombs (construction as a result of repeated burial and backfill operations). The unearthed haniwa exhibit differences concerning size, clay, and the shape of protruding clay bands, and it is possible that this reflects the aesthetic and/or ideological differences among the manufacturer's groups. In addition, it is thought that this mounded tomb could easily attract people's attention owing to its location and panoramic views. From this point on one might infer ancient roads.本研究報告は『古墳時代の首長墓系列に関する地域研究』と題する科学研究費補助金（基盤研究（Ｃ）、課題番号19K01096〈研究代表者：野島 永〉）による調査研究成果の一部である

Bronze-Hilted Iron Swords of Western Asia Held at the Department of Archaeology, Hiroshima University

その他のタイトル:広島大学大学院文学研究科 帝釈峡遺跡群発掘調査室年報ⅩⅩ

ESM for Violence in Japanese prehistory

Definition of and sources of data for injured individuals in the Jomon period, and detailed information of all sites where skeletal remains have been recovered