Japanese History Digest
Paleolithic Age
The Origin of Humankind
The origins of humanity are now believed to date back to approximately 7 million years ago in Africa. The earliest ape-men, such as Sahelanthropus, appeared during this period and are believed to have possessed the earliest signs of upright bipedalism. Humanity continued to evolve, with species such as Homo habilis emerging approximately 2.5 million years ago and beginning to use stone tools.
Furthermore, approximately 300,000 years ago, modern humans, Homo sapiens, emerged in Africa and subsequently spread to Eurasia, Oceania, and the Americas.
The Japanese archipelago originally formed as the margin of the Eurasian continent, and gradually took on its current arc-like shape through plate movements over tens of millions of years.
The original form of the archipelago, with its current borders on the Sea of Japan, was established during the Cenozoic era. During the Pleistocene (approximately 2.58 million years ago to approximately 11,700 years ago), the archipelago repeatedly connected and separated from the continent due to rising and falling sea levels during the repeated glacial and interglacial periods. During the ice ages, sea levels dropped, connecting the Japanese archipelago with the Asian continent via a land bridge, allowing large mammals to travel between the two continents from Siberia and mainland China.
When the last ice age ended approximately 10,000 years ago and global warming progressed, sea levels rose, and the archipelago took on its current island form, setting the stage for the subsequent Jomon period.
In this way, humans originated in Africa and spread throughout the world through a long process of evolution and migration.
The Japanese archipelago also changed shape throughout the geological era, eventually becoming a place where humans migrated and developed a unique culture.
The Paleolithic Era
Japan's Paleolithic period corresponds to the Pleistocene epoch in geological terms, the Ice Age from approximately 2.58 million years ago to approximately 11,700 years ago. However, clear traces of human presence can be found primarily during the Late Paleolithic period (from approximately 40,000 years ago onward). The Paleolithic period is considered the era of pre-pottery culture, which lasted until the start of the Jomon period, approximately 12,000 years ago, when pottery appeared.
During this period, the Japanese archipelago was occasionally connected to the Asian continent by land during the Ice Age, and animals adapted to the cold climate, such as mammoths and giant deer, spread their habitats from the north, while Naumann's elephants expanded their ranges, mainly to central and western Japan. It is believed that humans migrated to the Japanese archipelago in pursuit of these large and medium-sized animals, or in search of resources.
Palaeolithic people in Japan created chipped stone tools using stones such as obsidian, sanukite, and chert. In the early days, stone tools used for impacts, such as hand axes and hammers, were widely used, but eventually a variety of stone tools with specialized uses began to be made, such as knife-shaped stone tools, spear points attached to the ends of spears, and microblades fitted with wooden or bone handles.
The economy was primarily based on gathering, consisting of hunting animals such as deer and wild boar, fishing in rivers and the sea, and gathering plant foods such as nuts and wild vegetables. Temporary camps were often set up in caves or rock shelters, and there are known examples of simple huts or shallow pit-like structures built on flat land on plateaus or terraces, but long-term settlement was not common. Full-scale pit dwellings, like those of the Late Paleolithic in Europe, became widespread in the Japanese archipelago from the early Jomon period, which marked the beginning of the Holocene. Traces of simple shallow-dug dwellings have been reported even during the Paleolithic period, but it is believed that people generally led a highly mobile lifestyle.
Thus, Japan's Paleolithic period was a time when humans migrated to the Japanese archipelago during the Ice Age and lived a hunting and gathering lifestyle using chipped stone tools. Agriculture, full-scale settlement, and the spread of pit dwellings did not begin in earnest until the subsequent Jomon period.
Iwajuku ruins (Gunma Prefecture)
In 1946, Tadahiro Aizawa discovered chipped stone tools in the red soil exposed in a road cut in Midori City, Gunma Prefecture (formerly Iwajuku, Kasakake Town), known as the Kanto Loam. At the time, the prevailing view was that no Paleolithic culture existed in the Japanese archipelago prior to the Jomon period. This discovery significantly challenged this view of Japan's prehistory. In 1949, a full-scale excavation survey was conducted by the Meiji University Archaeology Laboratory and others. A group of stone tools without pottery was unearthed in the Kanto Loam, providing academic evidence that the Japanese archipelago also had a Paleolithic period. Following this excavation, Paleolithic site investigations expanded throughout Japan, and Paleolithic research developed into a major field in Japanese archaeology. Excavations at the Iwajuku Site identified two stone tool culture layers: an upper layer and an lower layer.
The lower layer unearthed a collection of stone tools dating back approximately 35,000 years, known as the Iwajuku I Stone Tool Culture. These tools, including knife-shaped stone tools with machined bases and partially ground stone axes, are characteristic of the early Late Paleolithic period.
The upper layer unearthed a collection of stone tools dating back approximately 25,000 years, known as the Iwajuku II Stone Tool Culture. These tools, including cut-out knife-shaped stone tools, are considered a late Late Paleolithic culture.
The existence of these two cultural layers provides important evidence that the Paleolithic culture of the Japanese archipelago spanned a certain period of time and underwent repeated changes in tool composition and technology.
The discovery and investigation of the Iwajuku site marks a milestone in the history of Japanese archaeology, tracing Japan's human history back to the Paleolithic period, far before the Jomon period.
For these reasons, the Iwajuku site was designated a National Historic Site in 1979, and is an essential site for understanding the existence of the Paleolithic period in the Japanese archipelago and the origins of Japanese culture. The Iwajuku Ruins were first discovered in 1946, and excavations were conducted in 1949 in collaboration with Meiji University. Currently, the Iwajuku Ruins are located in Iwajuku, Midori City, Gunma Prefecture. The surrounding area houses a museum and park, making it a hub for Paleolithic research and historical learning.
Facilities where you can learn about the Paleolithic Age
Sakiyama Kaizuka Jomon no Mori Museum in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture
https://www.city.miyako.iwate.jp/bnka/sakiyamamuseum/sakiyama_museum1_2.html
Sendai City Tomizawa Site Preservation Museum, Forest Museum of Underground
https://www.sentabi.jp/guidebook/attractions/15/
Nojiriko Museum of Naumann Elephant
http://nojiriko-museum.com/
Minamimaki Village Art and Folklore Museum
http://www.ytg.janis.or.jp/~bijyutsu/
Suichouen Archaeological Site
https://www.city.habikino.lg.jp/soshiki/shougaigakushu/bunka-sekai/bunkazai/bunkazai/iseki_shokai/kyusekkijidai/2561.html
Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum
https://okimu.jp/museum/permanent/specialized/
Official website of the Aizawa Tadahiro Memorial Museum
http://www15.plala.or.jp/Aizawa-Tadahiro
Iwajuku Museum in Midori City
http://www.city.midori.gunma.jp/iwajuku/
