Experimental practice using 3D scanning for understanding the structure of a stone chamber from the Kofun period, Japan – A case study of the Shobuzako Kofun, Okayama prefecture –

[EN] The Shobuzako Kofun, located in Okayama prefecture (western Japan), is a key-hole tomb set on a low rolling hill dating to the 5th century AD. Its stone chamber and burial goods are in very good condition because the stone chamber has not been looted.In this presentation, we will indicate a case study of the experimental use of 3D measuring techniques for recording and understanding the structure of a stone chamber, as well as the layout of burial goods’ layers in the Shobuzako Kofun. We will show some of the benefits and problems of 3D measuring techniques, and the basic remarks for using this method.[ES] El Shobuzaku Kofun, localizado en la prefectura de Okayama (Japón occidental), es una tumba con forma de “ojo de cerradura” construido sobre un montículo natural y está fechado en el siglo V d.c. Su cámara funeraria de piedra y artefactos asociados están en muy buena condición dado que la cámara no ha sido saqueada.En esta presentación, nosotros presentaremos un caso experimental del uso de técnicas de medida en 3D para registrar y entender la estructura de una cámara funeraria de piedra, así como la distribución de objetos asociados a la tumba en el Shobuzaku Kofun. Presentaremos algunos de los beneficios y problemas de las técnicas de medida en 3D, y las observaciones principales al usar este método.Yamaguchi, Y.; Matsugi, T. (2010). Experimental practice using 3D scanning for understanding the structure of a stone chamber from the Kofun period, Japan – A case study of the Shobuzako Kofun, Okayama prefecture –. Virtual Archaeology Review. 1(2):43-46. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2010.4684OJS434612Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture (2005): Sanjigen Dejitaru Akaibu wo Katsuyou-Shita Kokyou no Sougouteki Kenkyu (A general study of old mirrors by three-dimensional digital archive technology), Bulletin of the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Vol.8.BESSHO Hidetaka and MATSUGI Takehiko (2008): "Material source of stone chamber elements and the burial mound of the Shobuzako Kofun, Okayama Prefecture, western Japan (abstract)", in WAC6, Ireland 2008, Sixth World Archaeological Congress (proglam). Dublin.MATSUGI Takehiko (ed.) (2001): Kibi Chiiki ni Okeru "Yuryaku-Cho" Ki no Kokogaku-teki Kenkyu (Archaeological research into the Yuryakudynasty period in Kibi Region): Kagaku Kekyui Hojokin (Kiban Kenkyu(B)(2)) Kenkyu Seika Hokokusho, Heisei 9 Nendo -Heisei 12 Nendo, Okayama.MATSUGI Takehiko (ed.) (2008): Mitokutsu Kofun no Hakkutsu Chosa, Shobuzako Kofun Dai 5 Ji Hakkutsu Chosa (Shobuzako tumulus excavation report 1-5th excavation, 2001-2005 Okayama, Japan.), Faculty of Letters, Okayama University.NIIRO Izumi (ed) (2008): Okayama-shi Zozan Kofun Sokuryo Chosa Gaihou (A preliminary report of Zozan Kofun, Okayama city, Okayama prefecture, Japan), Kagaku Kekyui Hojokin Kiban Kenkyu(B) Kenkyu Seika Hokokusho.OKSBERG, Jane (2007): "The Last Excavation at Shobuzako Kofun.", in Bulletin of the Society for East Asian Archaeology ,Vol.1, the Society for East Asian Archaeology, pp.35-48.SEIKE Akira (ed.) (2006): Nankoku-shi ni Okeru Ogata Koki Kofun no Chosa. (The investigations of large-scaled Late Kofun in Nankoku city, Kochi Prefectue, Japan.), Kochi Daigaku Kokogaku Kenkyushitsu

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

Population pressure and prehistoric violence in the Yayoi period of Japan

The causes of prehistoric inter-group violence have been a subject of long-standing debate in archaeology, an- thropology, and other disciplines. Although population pressure has been considered as a major factor, due to the lack of available prehistoric data, few studies have directly examined its effect so far. In the present study, we used data on skeletal remains from the middle Yayoi period of the Japanese archipelago, where archaeologists argued that an increase of inter-group violence in this period could be explained by a population-pressure hy- pothesis. We quantitatively examine the effect of population pressure on the frequency of inter-group violence by compiling an exhaustive data set. We collected demographic information based on burial jars (kamekan) and the frequency of violence based on the ratio of injured individuals. The results are consistent with the hypothesis, i. e., high population density can promote inter-group violence

Kofun culture and the ancient Maya: An introductory comparative archaeology of “Out of Eurasia"

Both the ancient Maya and Kofun society of Japan were cultural regions formed by Homo sapiens groups after leaving the Eurasian continent more than 10,000 years ago. In this paper, we examine their similarities and differences by comparing perspectives on time and space. The two societies were stratified and witnessed the development of monuments that emphasized their verticality. The greatest similarity was the formation of a network society in which local polities coexisted without the institutionalization of centralized leadership at the beginning. Subsequently, the Kofun society adopted the worldview of the Eurasian continent including the concept of the "nation", thereby achieving a new social integration. On the other hand, the ancient Maya, a primary civilization, did not go through the same social process and maintained a sustainable society over a long period of time, maintaining the same form of worldview, monuments, and technological systems. On the similarities rooted in the universality of the human body and cognition, disparity in the process of environmental and social changes, including the direction and distance of "Out of Eurasia", can be seen in the subsequent differences between the ancient Maya and the Japanese archipelago. In this paper, we have illustrated how the similarities and differences created diverse directions of culture and history

文化進化の考古学

The book includes some examples of cultural evolutionary studies on archaeological remains in Japan

弥生時代中期における戦争：人骨と人口動態の関係から（Prehistoric Warfare in the Middle Phase of the Yayoi Period in Japan : Human Skeletal Remains and Demography）

It has been commonly claimed that prehistoric warfare in Japan began in the Yayoi period. Population increases due to the introduction of agriculture from the Korean Peninsula to Japan resulted in the lack of land for cultivation and resources for the population, eventually triggering competition over land. This hypothesis has been supported by the demographic data inferred from historical changes in Kamekan, a burial system used especially in the Kyushu area in the Yayoi period. The present study aims to examine the previous claim by using an expanded dataset of human skeletal remains and Kamekan. First, in order to quantify the intensity of warfare, we developed a database of injured individuals found in the middle phase of the Yayoi period in two large populations in the northern Kyushu area, the Fukuoka plain and the upperand middle-stream of the Homan River. Second, we collected Kamekan data from site reports published after 1990 and constructed a comprehensive database to infer the demography in these areas. Finally, we compared the frequency of injured individuals and the inferred demography. The results suggest that the frequency of injured individuals and the population increase tended to be higher at the upper- and middle-stream of the Homan River than on the Fukuoka plain. Different assumptions of the lifetime of each type of Kamekan can produce mixed results on the relationship between demography and the frequency of injured individuals. They were positively correlated under the traditional assumption of constant time intervals, while there was no correlation using time intervals based on carbon dating by the National Museum of Japanese History. Thus, our results are partially consistent with the previous claim that the population increase and the lack of land and resources due to the introduction of agriculture were causes of warfare in the northern Kyushu area in the middle phase of the Yayoi period