2004 Volume 12 Issue 1 Pages 15-28
An experimental archaeological research was carried out on clear-cutting of a secondary forest consisted of deciduous broad-leaved trees with polished stone axes and iron axes. The data were obtained for 178 trees felled with stone axes and 22 trees felled with the iron axes. The experiment showed that the felling efficiency of the polished stone axes of the Jomon Period changed between tree species. Among Castanea, Quercus, Prunus and Acer, Castanea was the easiest to cut down. Between stone axes and iron axes, the number of strokes needed to cut down trees of the same size was one-fourth with iron axes. It is important to estimate the efficiency of stone axes with such usage experiment in order to clarify selection of wood species utilized during the Jomon Period.
