An Ethno-historical Study of Religious Buildings in the Ryukyu Archipelago : Searching for a Chronology Based on the Development of Plans of Wells Constructed with Stones

这项研究工作计划建立一个年代框架，从宗教建筑的形态特征，特别是用石头建造的井来确定冲绳岛主要岛屿琉球王朝向宫古岛和矢山群岛扩散政治控制的年龄。从史学文献研究来看，这一时代被估计为18世纪。除了这样一部史学著作，南方诸岛的考古研究并不发达。这项研究试图从民族考古学的角度来研究这一主题。从1993年和1994年进行的田野调查中，可以清楚地看到，这些井的形态特征不仅是由时代趋势决定的，也是由下文描述的环境因素决定的。石造井或天然泉水的性质取决于(1)所处位置的微地形，(2)水源的相对位置，(3)水源的出水量，(4)影响地下水流位置的小断层、活动洞穴等，(5)当时可用的技术和井或泉所在的坚硬或脆弱的地面质量。为了识别对年代学有意义的井的建造特征，关于所列元素(1)至(5)的条件都相同的井之间的比较。在所研究的特征中，分布在Kabira(矢山群岛)和冲绳主要岛屿的几个地方的马蹄形水井可以是识别相当古老的一个独特的水井。

This research work was planned to establish a chronological framework to determine the age of diffusion of political control of the Ryukyu dynasty of the main Okinawa island to the Miyako and the Yaeyama islands, from the morphological features of religious constructions, especially the well constructed with the stone. From histrical literature studies, this age was estimated to be the 18th century. Besides such a historical work, the archaeological studies on the southern islands are not developed well. This study tries to draw ethno-archaeological perspective of the subject.From fieldwork carried out in 1993 and 1994, it became clear that the morphological features of the wells are determined not only by the tendency of the times, but also by the environmental elements described below. The feature of stone constructed wells or natural springs articulated by rubblework were decided by (1) the micro-topography of the location, (2) the relative position of the water source, (3) the quantity of the water running from the resource, (4) small faults, stalactive grottos, and so on, which influence the position of underground water streams, and (5) the technology available at that age and the quality of the ground, firm or flimsy, where the well or the spring is located.So as to identify the feature of construction of wells meaningful for the chronology, the comparison among wells of which conditions concerning the elements listed (1) to (5) are all the same. In the features investigated, the horseshoe shape wells which distribute in Kabira (the Yaeyama islands) and in several places in the main Okinawa island, can be a distinctive one to identify the rather old age.