Japanese

Graduate School Faculty of Arts and Letters Tohoku University

Profiles

Professor KANOMATA Yoshitaka

Affiliations :

  • Graduate School Faculty of Arts and Letters
  • Division of Department of Japanese Studies
  • Japanese History Course
  • Department of Archaeology

Archaeology and understanding gained through experience

During excavations we discover earthenware, stoneware, etc. These material objects allow us to draw a history of a place, but they do not immediately reveal abstract information such as psychology, values, or the aesthetic sense of their former owners. I am searching for ways to learn more about the hearts and minds of our ancestors through actual experiences (by seeing, listening, touching, and doing). This is an advanced version of conventional experimental archaeology. For instance we make, use, and repair stoneware pots. I believe that this method can also be used to foster intercultural understanding and be applied in experiential learning.

  • Research, History
  • Courses
    Archaeology (General Lecture); Archaeology (Special Lecture); Archaeology (Advanced Lecture); Archaeology (Introductory Reading); Archaeology (Introductory Field Work); Archaeology (Field Work); Archaeology (Advanced Field Work); Archaeology (Seminar); Archaeology (Advanced Seminar); Museology (Field Work Methodology)
    Personal History
    Research Associate, Faculty of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University
    The Culture Promotion Organization of Fukushima Prefecture (assets)
    Institute of Accelerator Analysis Ltd. (stocks)
    Apr 2009 Appointed to current position
    Degree
    Ph.D. (Literature)
    Field
    Prehistoric Archaeology (the research is conducted mainly in Japan, but includes a number of other countries, such as Russia, China, Mongolia, and Ecuador);
    Study of Japanese Jomon pottery, and Paleolithic stoneware in general; Chronological and use-wear analysis based on absolute dating techniques
    Research Subject
    Application of use-wear analysis (traceology) as a research method of prehistoric archaeology;
    Establishing the chronology of Palaeolithic sites in Tohoku region;
    Comparative cultural analysis of periods of the earliest pottery
    Keywords
    Paleolithic era; Jomon period; use-wear analysis of stoneware; radiocarbon dating
    Affiliation
    Japanese Archaeological Association; Japanese Paleolithic Research Association; Tohoku Historical Society; The Archaeological Society of Miyagi Prefecture
    Database of Researchers Information
    http://db.tohoku.ac.jp/whois/detail/c23f17d8987dcfb54e5a32bc3637c43d.html

Research

Japanese