Settlement patterns and lithic resource environment of the Palaeolithic in the middle of the Shinano river.

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This research project focuses on the settlement patterns and lithic resource environment of the Palaeolithicin the middle of the Shinano river with particular interests of the Mattobara site. Location A, B, and C are essential three parts of this site, and they all located on the Late Pleistocene terrace of Shinano river. Archaeological characteristics of the artifact assemblage are various forms of small Point tools, gravers, and scrapers. Location A and C encamped exactly the same period which were verified with four refitted lithic flakes. Major lithic material comprises of siliceous hard shale, siliceous tuff, and glassy textured andesite. Obsidian is available but very small amount.In these two years, we have excavated at Location B supported by this project fund, in order to elucidate the character of this location. In view of lithic artifact assemblage and characteristic features of Point tools, location A, C, and B are belonging to the same period typologically as well as geologic stratigraphy. On the contrary, lithic use at location B is differ widely. Dominant material is shale and with no obsidian at all. Geologic sources of obsidian and siliceous hard shale are distant from the site nearly a hundred kilometer. In this context, if the shale was obtainable near by Mattobara site, two different human migration area may possible to set out, in conjunction with lithic resource procurement. This project has also reconstructed the Shinano river bed in the same age of Mattobara site.