The Quaternary Research (Daiyonki-Kenkyu)

The Paper for the 2009 Japan Association for Quaternary Research Award

Natural environment and humans in the Palaeolithic

Akira Ono

2011 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 85-94
Published: April 01, 2011
Released on J-STAGE: April 01, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.4116/jaqua.50.85

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

Show abstractHide abstract

This paper focuses on the interaction between the natural environment and Palaeolthic human activity with particular reference to faunal changes and tool assemblages. However, causal relations between the natural environment and humans are easy to speculate about but difficult to elucidate. There are three different research areas. The first is a macro environment area that is totally independent from human activity or accessibility. The second is a so-called “effective environment” area. The third area is a pure archaeological area that is exclusively led by human-made artifact phenomena. The “effective environment” area should be the central target for an explicit discussion of humans-environmental interactions. Responding to climatic changes during the Pleistocene, Palaeoloxodon antiquus appeared during the warm climate period, and Mammuthus primigenius appeared during the glacial environment. Thick compact bones of the elephant were used to provide massive bifacial tools like bone handaxes and bone cleavers. After the extinction of the mammoth in the final stage of the Pleistocene, ca. 14,000 cal BP, no these tool types could have been produced from medium and small animal bones. However, the real historical process between mega fauna and bone tool production in MIS 2 did not proceed along this line. Bifacial bone handaxes were no longer produced after ca. 40,000 cal BP, even though mammoth elephants existed near Palaeolithic hunters in Europe. The emergence of “blade technique” at the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic produced various fine blade tools ; specifically, burins were often applied to the bone tool production. The extraction of thin and narrow plate from bone/horn/ivory blanks was only made possible by the “groove and splinter technique.” This technique was applicable not only to mammoth bones and tusks, but also to the long bones of deer and other middle-sized animals, irrespective of their thickness or compactness. This paper proposes a testable referential model for the interaction between natural environment and humans through concrete material evidence.

View full abstract

Download PDF (1238K)

The Paper for the 2009 Japan Association for Quaternary Research Academic Award

Coastal depositional systems and sea-level change

Yoshiki Saito

2011 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 95-111
Published: April 01, 2011
Released on J-STAGE: April 01, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.4116/jaqua.50.95

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

Show abstractHide abstract

A depositional system is one of the most important hierarchies for understanding the paleo-environments and sequence stratigraphy of sediments and sedimentary rocks, particularly in coastal environments. Depositional systems in the coastal zone are divided into two groups, transgressive and regressive. This paper shows an outline of these depositional systems, their characteristics and responses to sea-level changes, and basic information on sequence stratigraphic concepts for understanding the Pleistocene and Holocene sediments deposited since the last glacial maximum, which compose the latest depositional sequence.

View full abstract

Download PDF (1763K)

Article

Buried surfaces during the Last Glacial Age in the middle and upper part of the Arakawa Lowland and the Menuma Lowland, Central Japan

Takeshi Ishihara, Toshihiko Sugai, Shoichi Hachinohe

2011 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 113-128
Published: April 01, 2011
Released on J-STAGE: April 01, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.4116/jaqua.50.113

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

Show abstractHide abstract

Buried landforms covered by the latest Pleistocene-Holocene deposits were investigated in the middle and upper part of the Arakawa Lowland and the Menuma Lowland based on analysis of over 3,000 columnar sections of borehole data and boring core sediments. The buried surfaces were subdivided into I-V surfaces in descending order. The I-IV surfaces are buried fluvial terrace levels formed during the latter half of the Last Glacial Age. The V surface consists of basal gravel deposited at the bottom of the latest Pleistocene-Holocene incised valley fill, which was formed around LGM. These buried surfaces were formed by fluvial incisions associated with the relative fall of the sea level during the latest Pleistocene.
The Fukaya fault, an active reverse fault, lies concealed around the boundary between the Arakawa Lowland and the Menuma Lowland. It is suggested that buried surfaces were deformed by the Fukaya fault.

View full abstract

Download PDF (2225K)

Register with J-STAGE for free!