Challenging Paleolithic Research in a Limestone Cave in Northernmost Honshu

2023/10/16

Although Japanese Paleolithic research is of a high standard globally, it has in fact faced a major problem ever since the discovery of the Iwajuku site, Japan's first Paleolithic site. This is that the variety of artifacts found at the sites is very limited compared to later periods. The main reason is that much of the archipelago's surface is covered with soil of volcanic ash origin. Because volcanic ash is acidic, organic artifacts such as bone and wood that would have originally been present have been lost, leaving behind mostly only stone tools. Globally, it is common practice to conduct comprehensive research that includes various tools made of materials other than stone (such as bone and antler tools), food sources (fauna and flora) obtained by Paleolithic people, and even Paleolithic people themselves (human remains). Therefore, it can be said that Japanese Paleolithic research is at a significant disadvantage.

However, sites that can overturn this difficult situation are not entirely absent. One such example is limestone caves, where the highly alkaline limestone neutralizes the acidic soil. Although discovering these caves is not easy, comprehensively clarifying the picture of Paleolithic culture based on a diverse range of excavated materials is an unavoidable global trend in research. To solve this problem, the Archaeology and Ethnology laboratory at Keio University has been continuing the challenging research of exploring and excavating caves in limestone regions since the late 1990s.

This initiative began with limestone caves in the Kitakami Mountains of Iwate Prefecture and currently involves the excavation of the Shitsukari-Anbe Cave on the Shimokita Peninsula, the northeasternmost tip of Honshu. Fortunately, the challenge at the Shitsukari-Anbe Cave has yielded significant results. In 2008, Paleolithic tools were found 4 meters below the surface, and in the following years, animal bones from species such as Japanese hares, moose, and brown bears were also discovered one after another. Although there are about 10,000 Paleolithic sites in Japan, there are only five cases where stone tools and animal bones have been unearthed together. This discovery not only revealed the types of animals hunted by Paleolithic people in the Japanese archipelago but also left a significant mark for concretely considering their hunting methods.

*Affiliations, job titles, etc., are as of the time of the interview.