Interdisciplinary Study on the Origins of Japanese Peoples and Cultures

自史前时代以来，对日本群岛的各种文化传统和人口进行了跨学科研究，特别强调其起源或历史方面。研究总体上按原计划完成，在四年的时间里，举办了7次联合研讨会、4次国际研讨会和4次与其他相关学会组织的研讨会。主要研究结果如下。(1)阐明了日本群岛近几万年来的气候变化，准确地记录了各大火山喷发的年代。(2)建立了新的跨学科研究领域--DNA考古学，并对柔门时期的耕作计划和驯化动物的假说进行了验证。此外，还清楚地表明，柔门和弥合时期的人民是不同的后裔。(3)对亚洲现代人的比较研究表明，与最近的考古发现一致，绳文人被认为起源于北亚。(4)在人类学家和考古学家共同发掘的基础上，探讨了柔门文化传统在大陆新石器时代文化影响下孕育雅瑶文化的过程。(5)从人类学和考古学两方面考察了日本旧石器时代早期的所谓假货。(6)关于日本文化，一方面试图将源自亚洲其他地区的文化和在日本群岛独立发展的文化分开。(7)结合考古学和民俗学的最新资料，对柳田邦夫的“海上之路”假说进行了考证，对弥合时期以前沿南岛北上的水稻文化有了新的认识。

Interdisciplinary Studies were carried out on the various cultural traditions and the human populations of Japanese Archipelago since the prehistoric times, with special emphasis on their origins, or historical aspects. Researches were as a whole accomplished as originally planned, and in the course of four years, seven joint symposia, four international symposia and four symposia organized with other related societies have been held. The main results are as follows. (1) The climatic variation during the last few tens of thousand years of Japanese Archipelago was clarified, and the accurate chronicle of major volcanic eruptions was made. (2) The new interdisciplinary research field "DNA archaeology" was set up, and investigations were made to test hypotheses on the cultivated plans and domesticated animals in the Jomon Period. Also, it was made clear that the peoples of Jomon and Yayoi Period were of different descent. (3) Comparative studies on the modern human populations of Asia showed that in agreement with the recent archaeological findings the Jomon peoples are considered to be of north Asian origins. (4) Based on the joint excavation of anthropologists and archaeologists, the process of how the Jomon cultural tradidion gave birth to the Yayoi culture under the influence of the continental Neolithic Culture. (5) The so-called fake of Early Paleolithic in Japan was examined from both sides of anthropology and archaeology. (6) Concerning the Japanese cultures, attempts were made to separate the two portions of those derived from other Asian areas on the one hand, and those independently developed in Japanese Archipelago. (7) The "Road on the Sea" hypothesis of Kunio Yanagita was examined in the light of up-to-date materials in archaeology and folklore, and new insights were obtained with respect to the rice culture that went northward along the southern islands before the Yayoi Periods.