Frameworks of the Japanese Palaeolithic studies have many aspects. After the disclosure of so-called the “Early and Middle Palaeolithic” archaeological hoax on November 5th 2000, however, timing of the first peopling of the Japanese islands has been formed one of the most striking focuses of interests. This paper first discusses the historical backgrounds of the Japanese Palaeolithic research that has regulated present situation, and second the author reviewed the European criteria on the subdivision of Palaeolithic, as Lower (Early), Middle, Upper (Late), or the Lower, Upper, and finally indicated its application to the Japanese Palaeolithic in the last four decades. Because of a controversy on the emergence of human occupation in the Japanese islands, it will be a notable feature of practical apparatus using the term as “Archaeology of OIS3 or MIS3.” The author stands on the view that the first humans on the Japanese islands dated back not earlier than ca. 40 ka, and only a few sites and sparse evidence are available before than that. For the elucidation of human occupation earlier than the Late Palaeolithic, the following four conditions should be warranted, as Suwama (2010) pointed: (1) clear evidence of human work on the lithic materials, (2) stable site formation context exclusive of pseudo artifacts, (3) artifacts from the stratigraphic context, and (4) with relevant amount of artifact assemblage. No single site was still available with satisfaction of these four conditions before ca. 40 ka. It is possible to set out a robust hypothesis that the Layer X of the lowermost part of Tachkawa Loam bed should be evaluated as the first human occupation in the Japanese islands. For the advancement of framework on the first peopling issue, falsification of this hypothesis would be more practical to test than the verification.

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The Edo period in Japan (AD 1603–1868) was characterized by the rapid increase and later stabilization of the population, as well as the development of both land and marine transport. Diet during the Edo-period can be investigated by studying excavated human skeletal remains as well as the literature of the period. In the present study, we measured carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of human and faunal bone collagen from the Edo-period Fushimi Castle site in Kyoto, Japan. Among the 70 human individuals examined, 27 (9 males, 12 females, and 6 children) showed good preservation of bone collagen. We evaluated diet and the differences between diets of males and females. The results suggested that Fushimi individuals consumed a diet particularly high in freshwater fish, or a diet high in C₃ plants, terrestrial mammals, and marine and freshwater fish. The latter interpretation is compatible with documentary evidence showing that diet during the Edo period consisted mainly of rice, vegetables, and fish, and that residents of urban areas seldom ate any kind of millet (C₄ plants). Carbon isotope ratios of males were higher than those of females, indicating that males consumed a greater amount of marine fish and shellfish than females. Nitrogen isotope ratios of children decreased through the age. This would have a relationship with breastfeeding and weaning.

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[in Japanese]

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