【石蒸し➡縄文土器へ「食の革命」 日本列島37,000年史-10】

さて日本列島での旧石器時代の社会実相を国立歴史民俗博物館展示で考えてきた。
わたし的にはコペルニクス的学習機会であり刺激的でした。
石器を基本ツールとしながら現代のわれわれの文化に繋がってきた
マザーでありその「進化過程」を掘り下げるという視点。
現代の考古の知見は炭素年代法というモノサシを活用して
このような社会実相に迫ってきていることが学習できてワクワクさせられた。
展示パネルの興味深い部分に沿って考えをまとめながら連載してみた。

で、この22,000年以上と言われる旧石器段階から縄文への移行について。
必ずしも展示にそのような結論があったわけではないけれど、
わたし的に非常に印象深かったのが「食の革命的変化」。
縄文を特徴付けるもっとも核心は土器料理の普遍的採用だということ。
一方で旧石器のひとびとの食のスタイル展示の中に
「石蒸し料理」の紹介があって実にシンボリックだと感じたのです。
肉や魚などはそのまま火に炙って食べるのが一般的だろうけれど、
栄養バランスから考えて必須の写真のような植物性食品調理には適さない。
焼くだけでは炭化が進むだけでうま味を味わうことができない。

平成３年に見つかった浅間山麓の長野県・下弥堂遺跡での発掘写真。
見つかったのは川原石をぎっしりと敷き詰めた穴。「石蒸し料理」キッチン。
調理手順は以下のようだとされている。
1　握りこぶし大の石を穴に入れる。
2　石がカンカンに熱くなるまでその上で火を焚く。
3　ホウの葉などの木の葉で包んだ食材を石の上に並べる。
4　その上に土をかぶせて１時間ほど蒸し焼きにする。
5　食材を土の中から取りだし葉を開いて食べる。
こういう調理法は現代のパプアニューギニアなどの民俗例でも見られるという。
実際にわたしも石蒸し料理は食べたことがあるけれど、食材に良く火が通って
非常に香ばしくジューシーな食感を楽しめる。
ポイントは食材をしっかり葉で包むこと。こういう料理法は
現代にも蒸し焼き料理として連綿とあり続けている。マザーな食文化。
人類の進化の中で、食文化というのはかなり決定的なファクター。
そして料理法というのは食材の栄養とうま味を極限まで追究するもの。
肉も魚も最重要な食材で焼くだけでもおいしいけれど、
他の植物性食材にうま味を染み込ませて同時に食する「進化」が
当然に追究されていったに違いないと思うのです。
そうすると上から２番目の「縄文土器」での「鍋料理」は革命的に合理的。
石蒸しはおいしいのは格別だけれど調理に手間がかかる。
対して土器だと簡易でいわゆる鍋料理のルーツとして日本食文化で基底的。

多様な食材を渾然一体として受け入れる柔軟性も高い。
日本人の精神的原型・ルーツとしても縄文土器での食生活は
大きな影響力を持ったのではないか。
獲得が陸生動物と比較して容易で「平和的入手」可能な魚をベースにして、
そのうま味を余すところなく引き出すのは、精神性も含めて日本人らしい。
どうも時代の変化は、この食の革命が静かな起因だったのではないか。
日本列島での時代変容にはこういう平和的な移行がふさわしかったのだとも
思われてならないのであります。さてどうかなぁ？
次回以降は、次の世、縄文探究に進みたいと思います。


English version⬇

Stone Steaming ➡ Jomon Pottery "Revolution of Food" 37,000 Years History of the Japanese Islands - 10
From cooking only by baking to "boiling" food culture. There may have been a "steaming" cooking culture at the halfway point. Peaceful transition of the times. ...

I have been thinking about the social reality of the Paleolithic in the Japanese archipelago at the National Museum of Japanese History exhibition.
For me, it was a stimulating Copernican learning experience.
Stone tools are the basic tools that have led to our modern culture.
The perspective of delving into the "evolutionary process" of the mother culture, which has led to our present culture using stone tools as basic tools.
Modern archaeological knowledge is based on carbon dating, which is a method that allows us to understand the realities of society.
It was exciting to learn that modern archaeological findings are approaching such social realities through the use of carbon dating.
I have tried to write a series of articles summarizing my thoughts along with the interesting parts of the exhibition panels.

I was also interested in the transition from the Paleolithic to the Jomon period, which is said to be 22,000 years ago.
I was very impressed with the "transition from the 22,000 year old Paleolithic to the Jomon period," although I did not necessarily draw that conclusion from the exhibit.
I was very impressed by the "revolutionary change in food".
The most central characteristic of the Jomon is the universal adoption of earthenware cuisine.
On the other hand, in the Paleolithic people's food style exhibit
I thought it was very symbolic.
It is common to eat meat and fish by roasting them over a fire.
However, from a nutritional balance point of view, it is not appropriate for cooking essential plant foods such as those in the photo.
Grilling alone only leads to carbonization and does not allow you to taste the umami flavor.

Excavation photo from the Shimoyado Site, Nagano Prefecture, at the foot of Mount Asama, discovered in 1991.
What was found was a pit tightly packed with riverbed stones. A "stone steaming" kitchen.
The cooking procedure is said to be as follows.
1. Place a stone the size of a fist in the hole.
2. Build a fire over the stones until they are very hot.
3 Place the food, wrapped in leaves such as borax leaves, on the stone.
4 Cover the top with soil and let it steam for about an hour.
5 The food is removed from the earth, the leaves are opened, and the food is eaten.
This method of cooking is said to be found in modern folklore in Papua New Guinea and elsewhere.
I have actually eaten stone steamed food before, and it was very fragrant and juicy.
The key point is to wrap the food tightly in the leaves.
The key is to wrap the food tightly in the leaves. This kind of cooking method is still used today.
still exist today as steamed dishes. Mother food culture.
Food culture is a decisive factor in human evolution.
Cooking methods are based on the pursuit of the nutrition and umami of the ingredients to the utmost limit.
Meat and fish are the most important ingredients, and they are delicious just by grilling them.
But the "evolution" of infusing umami into other plant-based ingredients and eating them at the same time
I believe that "evolution" must have been pursued naturally.
In that case, "nabe cooking" with Jomon earthenware, the second item from the top, is revolutionary and rational.
Stone steaming is exceptionally tasty, but it takes a lot of time and effort to cook.
Earthenware, on the other hand, is simple and is fundamental to Japanese food culture as the root of so-called "nabe" cooking.

It is also flexible enough to accept a variety of ingredients as a whole.
The Jomon earthenware diet must have had a great influence on the spiritual prototype and roots of the Japanese people.
The Jomon earthenware diet may have had a great influence on the spiritual prototype and roots of the Japanese people.
The Jomon diet was based on fish, which was easier to acquire than land animals and could be obtained "peacefully".
It is typical of the Japanese, including their spirituality, to draw out the full flavor of fish.
Apparently, the change of the times was quietly caused by this food revolution.
I can't help but think that this kind of peaceful transition was appropriate for the transformation of the times in the Japanese archipelago.
I can't help but think that this kind of peaceful transition was appropriate for the transformation of the times in the Japanese archipelago. What do you think?
From next time onward, I would like to move on to the next generation, the Jomon exploration.

【石器＝道具に宿る人類進化史 日本列島37,000年史-9】

日本列島に残る旧石器時代人の痕跡・遺跡からの時代相探索。
時間にして37,000年前から縄文開始の約13,000年前まで
25,000年間くらいの時代相が相当する。
人間の世代更新をおおまかに20才として考えれば、1,250世代。
ジオラマのような親子の知恵の継承が不断に行われ続けた。
石器へのさまざまな工夫をもって人類は生き抜いてきた。
ちょうど子どもが石に向かって鋭利な注意力を向けている様子。
それを見つめる父親の表情になんともいえない感情がこもっている。

「この石、こんなふうに割れるんだ。この断面なら、こう使えるかなぁ」
「ようやくこいつも石器の向上に注意を持ち始めたか・・・」

石に向かって自分たちの生き方を進歩させる工夫を凝らす。
もっとも普遍的に存在する利器としての石を
道具にしていくという飛躍とその発展ぶりにこそ、
人類進化のさまざまな「要素」が発現していったのでしょう。
その要素が「止揚」されて現代世界にまで技術痕跡として繋がっている。
これは確実に存在した歴史事実。
イラスト表現では「直接打撃・間接打撃・押圧剥離」という技術手法解説。
人間という動物種が知恵というものを進化させたルーツ。
生き延びてくる中でいっときも休むことなく繰り返された営為。
「その割れ方はな、こうやればできるんだぞ」
「そうなんだ、でもこうやったらもっと良くないかなぁ、父ちゃん」
「おお、そういうのもアリだなぁ・・・」
たぶん進化のプロセスはこういう会話からだったのだろう。
こういう親子対話が1,250世代にわたって繰り返された結果、
進化プロセスが飽和沸点を超えて、時代画期として縄文の世が始まった。

道具を使ってより暮らしやすい環境を現実世界で実現する。
それまでの動物種にはみられない特殊な発展が人類だけに可能になった。
この石器の進化は同時代的に世界各地で進行して
やがてカミソリ状の鋭利な石器を組み合わせる細石刃文化に極まっていく。
石器時代の「最先端技術」。
この文化はシベリア・中国北部・朝鮮半島・日本列島と周辺全域に広がった。
列島での嚆矢は25,000年前頃、大陸と地続きだった北海道にやってきた。
以降その文化は広く日本列島に伝播していったとされる。
発展に当たって北海道白滝村地域の世界最高レベルの純度の黒曜石が
最高の原料とされ、その発掘生産のための社会組織的痕跡まで見られる。
「これメッチャいいべや〜、みんな欲しがるに違いない」
「こりゃぁ発掘の専門組織や、製品化の場所も必要だな・・・」
というような分業化の痕跡が見られるのだという。
世界規模での情報共有が相当の速度で伝わったことが推認される。
まさに道具の進化は情報交流の進化ももたらしたのだろう。
先人たちの生き抜く知恵に圧倒される。・・・


English version⬇

The History of Human Evolution in Stone Tools: The 37,000-Year History of the Japanese Archipelago - 9
The Stone Age's most advanced technology, the "fine stone blade culture. Optimization of use brings about social development. Wide-area distribution and the development of information technology also progressed. The Stone Age

A search for chronological phases from the traces and remains of Paleolithic man in the Japanese archipelago.
From 37,000 years ago in time to about 13,000 years ago at the start of the Jomon period.
This corresponds to a period of about 25,000 years.
If we assume that the human generation renewal is roughly 20 years old, it is 1,250 generations.
Like a diorama, the wisdom of parents and children continued to be passed down from generation to generation.
Humans have survived through various innovations in stone tools.
A child is just turning his sharp attention toward a stone.
The father's expression as he gazes at the child is filled with indescribable emotion.

The father's face is filled with indescribable emotion as he looks at the stone. I wonder if this section can be used like this.
Finally, he is beginning to pay attention to the improvement of stone tools..."

They devise ways to advance their own way of life toward the stone.
The stone as the most universally existing useful tool.
The leap of turning stone into a tool and its development is what
The elements of human evolution were expressed in the leap and development of using stone as a tool.
These elements have been "sublimated" and connected to the modern world as technological traces.
This is a historical fact that has certainly existed.
In the illustration, the technical technique of "direct blow, indirect blow, and pressure peeling" is explained.
The roots of the evolution of wisdom in the animal species called human beings.
An activity that has been repeated without a moment's pause in the course of survival.
You can do that cracking by doing it like this.
"Yes, but wouldn't it be better this way, Dad?"
"Oh, that's a good idea..."
Perhaps the evolutionary process began with these conversations.
After 1,250 generations of this kind of parent-child dialogue, the evolutionary process has reached a saturation boiling point.
The evolutionary process reached a saturation boiling point, and the Jomon period began.

We use tools to create a more comfortable living environment in the real world.
This special development, not seen in previous animal species, was possible only for humans.
This evolution of stone tools proceeded contemporaneously in various parts of the world.
This evolution of stone tools progressed contemporaneously in many parts of the world, eventually culminating in the fine stone blade culture, which combined razor-sharp stone tools.
This was the "cutting edge technology" of the Stone Age.
This culture spread throughout Siberia, northern China, the Korean peninsula, the Japanese archipelago, and surrounding areas.
The first pioneering example of this culture in the archipelago came to Hokkaido, which was connected to the continent around 25,000 years ago.
Since then, the culture is believed to have spread widely throughout the Japanese archipelago.
The world's purest obsidian from the Shirataki Village area of Hokkaido was considered the best raw material for the development of the culture.
The obsidian found in the Shirataki Village area of Hokkaido was considered to be the best raw material, and there are even traces of the social organization that was involved in its excavation and production.
This is so good, everyone will want it.
"This is great, everyone will want it..." "We need an organization specializing in excavation and a place to commercialize it..."
We need an organization specializing in excavation and a place to commercialize the product....
It can be inferred that information sharing on a global scale was transmitted at a considerable speed.
The evolution of tools must have brought about the evolution of information exchange.
I am overwhelmed by the wisdom of our ancestors to survive. The wisdom of our ancestors to survive is overwhelming.

【旧石器時代・移動交流による進化 日本列島37,000年史-8】

いまから29,000年前、九州を中心に「剥片尖頭器」という槍先が使われた。
発掘の分布状況を見ると九州全域の遺跡で発掘され、一部山口県地方でも。
そして同様の石器は朝鮮半島、主に西側地域で発見されている。
パネル展示では鹿児島県と韓国中西部のものが提示されていた。
はるかな後世の日本と百済の関係を暗示するのかも・・・。
これは旧石器の人々の広域交流の状況を表しているのでしょう。
示されたパネルの地図を見ると日本列島と大陸側・半島との対馬海峡が
非常に狭くなっていることがあきらか。
この29,000年前の時期というのは「最終氷期最寒気」に相当していて
海面が低下し、ほんの少しの距離しか海峡は存在しなかった。

狩猟採集を主な生業としていた旧石器の人々にとっては、
移動というのはきわめて日常的なことだった。
定点的なムラから獲物を求め移動放浪することはよくあっただろう。
そして季節毎に集落自体も移転する生活実態だった。
基本物資である石器さえ確保していれば移動そのものはごく習慣的なことだった。
海を渡って他地域と交流するということにも径庭は小さかった。
海生動物の捕獲ということも大きな目的要因かも知れない。
一方、狩猟道具の一体性からみて血族的関係性も認識していたかもしれない。
人類史ではごく初期から「一夫一婦制」が社会的に採用されたとされる。
当然、血族関係という認識も深く保持していたことも間違いはない。
ほかの動物種と大きく進化が違ったことの有為な起因として
この血族認識は相当大きかったのではないか。
DNAの発展多様性発現にとって有利だったと思われる。・・・
地図では数十キロ程度しか対馬海峡の距離は存在しない。
このあと気候の温暖化から15,000年前以降「縄文海進」の海面上昇があり、
船での移動によってその後も相互関係はあったとしても
基本的には大陸側と相対的に隔絶し独自進化方向に向かったのだろう。


他方、本州中部地域では旧石器時代の最大の利器・天然のガラス「黒曜石」が
長野県にある最大標高1,531mの和田峠と、伊豆半島沖の神津島で産出され、
広域にわたってそれが流通していることが確認されている。
黒曜石は北海道オホーツク海側の白滝で世界最高水準のものが産出される。
こちらも広域に流通していたことがわかっている。

生業での広域移動という要素はさまざまな社会発展のマザーだった。
かなり意図的に知見を相互交流するということが
活発に行われたのが人類であり、その痕跡が精神に強く影響を与えて
やがて抽象的な世界認識や歴史時間認識という不思議な発展に至るのではないか。
石器時代のDNA進化史とでもいえる領域、非常にワクワクする。


English version⬇

Paleolithic: Evolution through Migratory Interaction 37,000 Years of the Japanese Archipelago - 8
Although settlement began after the Jomon period, wide-area migratory exchange since the Paleolithic period has continued as the basis for the "evolution of the information system" of humankind. The evolution of the human race through mobile exchange

29,000 years ago, spear points called "peeled lancets" were used mainly in Kyushu.
The distribution of excavations shows that they have been found at sites all over Kyushu, and some in the Yamaguchi Prefecture area.
And similar stone tools have been found on the Korean Peninsula, mainly in the western region.
The panel display showed items from Kagoshima Prefecture and the central and western parts of Korea.
It may imply a relationship between Japan and Baekje in a far later period....
This may represent the situation of wide-area exchange among the Paleolithic peoples.
Looking at the map on the panel shown, it is clear that the Tsushima Strait between the Japanese archipelago and the continental side and peninsula is very narrow.
The map on the panel clearly shows that the Tsushima Strait between the Japanese archipelago and the continental side and peninsula is very narrow.
This period 29,000 years ago corresponds to the coldest period of the last glacial period.
The sea level dropped and the straits were only a short distance apart.

For Paleolithic people, who were hunter-gatherers as their main livelihood
migration was an extremely common practice.
It would have been common for them to wander from their fixed villages in search of prey.
They also moved from one village to another seasonally.
As long as they had the basic commodity of stone tools, migration itself was a very common practice.
The area was not large enough for people to cross the sea and interact with other areas.
The capture of marine animals may have been a major objective.
On the other hand, they may have been aware of kinship in terms of the unity of their hunting tools.
It is said that "monogamy" was adopted socially from the very beginning of human history.
It is no doubt that the recognition of kinship was also deeply rooted in human history.
This recognition of kinship must have been a significant factor in the evolutionary differences between humans and other animal species.
This recognition of kinship may have been a significant factor in the significant differences in evolution among other animal species.
This is an advantage for the expression of DNA developmental diversity. The map shows only a few dozen kilometers of the
The distance of the Tsushima Strait is only a few tens of kilometers on the map.
After this, there was a sea level rise of "Jomon sea advance" after 15,000 years ago due to the warming of the climate.
Even though there has been a mutual relationship since then due to the movement of ships
The Jomon people were basically separated from the continental side and evolved in their own unique way.

On the other hand, in the central Honshu region, obsidian, the greatest tool of the Paleolithic Age and natural glass, is produced at Wada Pass, the highest point in Nagano Prefecture at 1,531 meters above sea level, and at Kozushima Island off the Izu Peninsula.
The largest source of obsidian, a natural glass of the Paleolithic period, is found at Wada Pass, the highest point in Nagano Prefecture at 1,531 meters above sea level, and at Kozushima Island off the Izu Peninsula.
It has been confirmed that obsidian is distributed over a wide area.
The world's highest level of obsidian is produced in Shirataki on the Okhotsk Sea side of Hokkaido.
It is known that obsidian was also distributed over a wide area.

The element of wide-area movement for subsistence was the mother of various social developments.
It was quite intentional to exchange knowledge with each other.
The traces of this exchange strongly influenced the psyche, and eventually led to the development of an abstract perception of the world and the creation of a new society.
This may eventually lead to the mysterious development of abstract world awareness and historical time awareness.
This is a very exciting area of DNA evolutionary history of the Stone Age.

【投げ槍と落とし穴・狩猟テク 日本列島37,000年史-7】

石器時代は動物の狩猟が基本生業であり、生産物確保手段。
日本列島各地にたくさんの遺跡が遺され、
社会としては集落もあり、それぞれの間での交易も活発に展開した。
しかし基本生業が狩猟である以上、その社会密度は対象の絶対数に依存する。
日本旧石器学会が2010年に集計した遺跡データベースによると、日本列島では
旧石器時代と縄文時代草創期の遺跡/文化層の総計は16771。内訳としては
旧石器時代14542と縄文時代草創期2526となる。 重複文化層を１遺跡として
遺跡単位で数えると旧石器時代遺跡が10150、縄文時代草創期遺跡が2432。
およそ22,000年期間の旧石器、13,000年期間の縄文と考えれば、
遺跡の数自体は旧石器遺跡の数は多いと言える。
しかし社会的生産手段の人口維持力を考えれば、集住に適した縄文と
より広域展開が必要だった旧石器というように対比できるのだろう。
現代人はすでにこういう狩猟の経験知、能力を喪失しているが、
たぶんまったく違う能力に「止揚」されて保持しているのだろう。

イラストとジオラマで槍投げでの捕獲と落とし穴猟を比較して考えて見る。
槍での捕獲というのは確率的にどうなのだろうかと思われる。
射手の腕という非科学的な要素で生産効率が左右されざるを得ない。
また獲物の側でも、なんどか危地を脱すると経験知が向上して
より対人類で安全側行動に学習していく可能性が高いと思われる。
「こないだ、仲間がやられたから、もっと注意しよう」と。
一方で落とし穴猟については、より計画的な狩猟が可能だったように思える。


図で示されているように獲物動物の群を人間集団が追い込んで
定置的に待ち伏せすることで、生産効率は高まったのではないか。
またあきらかに個人技の世界から集団知能の世界に地平が変化した。
より戦略的、計画的な知能発達が促進されたのではと思われる。
このあたりの社会的経緯について説明開示されてはいなかった。
言ってみれば「だましのテクニック」だが、こういう動物心理を見抜いて
それを先回りしてコントロールする「工夫」は同時に
対人関係へも応用利用されていったことが容易に考えられる。
社会を操作する知的快感・悪だくみに目覚めるきっかけとして機能したかも。

まぁ、この間37,000年だから類としての知能向上、DNA進化がどれほどかは
よくわからない。しかし現生人類史から言えば半分程度の時間ではある。
この間でどのように進化したのか、その内容はぜひ確認したいと思う。
現生人類の出アフリカはおおむね7-8万年前とされるけれど、
それと対比してもこの列島での経験知蓄積は相当長期だと言えるのでしょう。
そして進化の過程に日本列島の地域性ということも大きく関与した可能性。
一方で、人類は交易を通して相当広範囲に進化を共有したと考えられる。
現実に黒曜石のような鋭利で利用性の高い素材は広範囲に流通した。
そうした情報共有には具体的には「分業」のような機能が働いたかどうか、
交易者というような存在が専門的に知恵の共有に役立ったか。
どんどんと疑問と興味の規模が拡大して止まらない（笑）。・・・


English version⬇

Throwing Spears and Pitfalls The 37,000-Year History of the Japanese Archipelago - 7
The evolution of technology in the Stone Age occupation of hunting. Pitfall hunting brought advanced "deception" techniques and became the basis of "psychological manipulation" technology? .......

In the Stone Age, hunting animals was the basic livelihood and means of securing products.
Many archaeological sites have been found throughout the Japanese archipelago.
There are many archaeological sites throughout the Japanese archipelago, and as a society, there were settlements, and trade between them developed actively.
However, since hunting is the basic occupation, the social density of the society depends on the absolute number of the target population.
According to the archaeological site database compiled by the Paleolithic Society of Japan in 2010, in the Japanese archipelago
The total number of Paleolithic and Pioneer Jomon Period sites/cultural strata is 16771, broken down as follows.
Paleolithic 14542 and Jomon Period 2526. If the overlapping cultural layers are counted as one site, the total number of sites per cultural layer is
The Paleolithic period is 10150 sites and the Jomon period is 2432 sites.
If we consider the Paleolithic period of approximately 22,000 years and the Jomon period of 13,000 years, then the number of sites itself is about the same as the number of Paleolithic sites.
The number of Paleolithic sites itself can be said to be large.
However, considering the ability of the social means of production to sustain a population, the Jomon, which was suited to residential concentration
The Jomon, however, had a social means of production and population maintenance, and the Paleolithic required a wider area of development.

Modern humans have already lost the ability and experience to hunt.
Perhaps they have been "sublimated" into a completely different ability and retained.
Let's compare spear-throwing and pitfall hunting in the illustration and diorama.
One wonders about the probability of capture by spear.
The production efficiency must be affected by the unscientific factor of the archer's skill.
Also, on the part of the prey, if it escapes from danger several times, its experiential knowledge will improve, and it will be more likely to act on the safe side with humans.
It is highly likely that the prey will learn to behave more humanely and safely.
The other day, one of my friends got hit, so I'll be more careful.
On the other hand, for pitfall hunting, it seems that more systematic hunting was possible.
As shown in the figure, a group of humans could drive a group of prey animals into a herd and ambush them in a fixed position.
The production efficiency may have been enhanced by the fixed ambush of a group of prey animals as shown in the figure.
Also, clearly, the horizon has changed from a world of individual skill to a world of collective intelligence.
This may have promoted more strategic and systematic development of intelligence.
The social background of this change was not explained or disclosed.
It is a "trick technique," if you will.
and controlling it in advance is also applied to interpersonal relationships.
It is easy to imagine that this kind of "ingenuity" to detect and control animal psychology was applied to interpersonal relationships as well.
It may have served as an opportunity to awaken to the intellectual pleasure of social manipulation and deception.

Well, it has been 37,000 years, so I am not sure how much we have improved our intelligence as a species, or how much our DNA has evolved.
I am not sure. However, it is about half of the time in the history of the present human species.
I would like to see how we have evolved during this period.
Although it is said that the first humans appeared in Africa about 70,000 to 80,000 years ago, the history of the present human species is still very different from that of the past.
In contrast to this, the accumulation of empirical knowledge in this archipelago is quite long.
The regional nature of the Japanese archipelago may also have played a significant role in the evolutionary process.
On the other hand, humans are thought to have shared their evolution over a fairly wide area through trade.
In fact, sharp and highly useful materials such as obsidian were distributed over a wide area.
I wonder whether such information sharing involved a specific "division of labor" function.
Did such entities as traders help to share wisdom in a specialized way?
The scale of my questions and interests keeps growing and growing, and I can't stop (laughs). ...

【死への装飾と精神性痕跡 日本列島37,000年史-6】

石器時代人の社会実相を再構築するような想像復元へのチャレンジ。
現代考古学に基づく研究発展の最前線を見て強く想像力が刺激される次第。

さて、人間の歴史を構成する大きな部分は逃れられない死への態度。
やがて宗教というカタチを取っていく人間の精神性・想像力の部分。
「死んだらそのあとどうなるのか？」という永遠の未知への人間の反応。
石器の時代にも集住的な社会構成が見られ、いわばその社会での経済も
見晴らすことができてきている。社会での最大の資産は人間それ自身。
成人に達するまでにさまざまな経験を積んで生き抜く知恵を持っていた個人は
社会の中でのリーダー的な存在であっただろう。
その個人に蓄積された経験知自体がかけがえのない社会行動指針。
そういう個人を死というカタチで失ったとき、社会はかれを葬送しただろうことは
もっとも基底的な人間営為として理解できる。
約20,000年前の北海道上磯郡知内町の「湯の里４遺跡」では直系１ｍほどの
「墓」と思われる土壙（土中に穴を掘っただけの墓）が発見されている。
この土壙には赤い顔料が撒かれていて、また玉類と石刃・石刃核が見つかった。
＜石刃【せきじん】細長く両側にほぼ平行の刃をもつ剥片(はくへん)石器。
原石を適当な大きさに加工し縦長剥片を剥ぎとっていく（石刃技法）ことで、
同じ規格の石刃が大量につくられた。〜石器時代最大の「道具」だろうか。＞
死者が死後も生き抜いていくのにその道具に困らないように供えられたか。
死後にも、死者の「営み」があるだろうと考えて
そのために道具を持たせるという発想は、死後の世界を「信じた」ことを意味する。
人間の色彩感覚の中で赤はもっとも根源的な象徴色。
それで彩るという考え方も、どこか納得できる部分がある。


写真は14,500年前ころの愛媛県黒岩遺跡に残る線刻石版。
ヨーロッパでは旧石器時代人は洞窟壁画を描き、石版に動物画を刻み、
角製の女性像をつくった。日本列島では女性像とされる石製品や絵画的に
「線刻」された礫などがある。そこにどんな祈りが込められたか。
カタチや線刻によって、どういう人間心理が表現されたのか、
非常に強くこころに迫ってくるものを感じさせられる。

また、13,000年前ころの最古とされる「土偶」には女性的な乳房が表現された。
出産という営為への神聖感は、人類の基層的な意識に刷り込まれている。
死とともに命の再生、輪廻転生というような意識の世界が
日常を超える潜在意識として人類に普遍化していったと思われる。

若い頃「宗教とは麻薬である」という唯物史観にまみれたことがある。
しかし、こういう人類史を見つめ続けてくると
先人たちのこころの実相との大きな乖離を感じてならない。


English version⬇

Ornaments and Spiritual Traces to Death: The 37,000-Year History of the Japanese Archipelago - 6
Respect for the spirit of the ancients through the things they left behind. The inescapable conflict between life and death. The history of the spirit of belief. The history of the heart that believes in life and death.

The challenge of imaginative reconstruction that reconstructs the social reality of Stone Age man.
The frontier of research development based on modern archaeology strongly stimulates our imagination.

A major part of human history is the inescapable attitude toward death.
This is the part of human spirituality and imagination that eventually took the form of religion.
What happens after death? the human response to the eternal unknown.
Even in the age of stone tools, we can see a residential social structure and, so to speak, the economy of that society.
We are beginning to be able to see the economy of such societies. The greatest asset of a society is the human being himself.
Individuals who had gained a variety of experiences and had the wisdom to survive before reaching adulthood were
would have been a leader in society.
The accumulated experience and knowledge of an individual is itself an irreplaceable guideline for social behavior.
When such an individual was lost in the form of death, society would have buried him.
This can be understood as the most fundamental human activity.
At the "Yunosato 4 Site" in Chouchi-machi, Kamiiso County, Hokkaido, approximately 20,000 years ago, a 1-meter-long earthen mound that appears to be a "tomb" was found.
A grave pit (a grave with a hole dug in the ground), which appears to be a "tomb," was discovered at the Yunosato 4 Site in Chinai-cho, Kamiiso County, Hokkaido, approximately 20,000 years ago.
This burial mound was covered with red pigment, and jades, stone blades, and stone blade nuclei were also found.
＜Stone blades are long, slender, flaked stone tools with nearly parallel blades on both sides.
The stone blade is made by processing a rough stone to an appropriate size and removing longitudinal flakes (stone blade technique).
Stone blades of the same standard were produced in large quantities. 〜It is probably the largest tool of the Stone Age. ＞The dead continue to live on after death.
Was it offered to the dead so that they would not be troubled with tools for surviving after death?
The idea was that the dead would have "activities" even after death.
The idea of having tools for this purpose implies "belief" in the afterlife.
Red is the most fundamental symbolic color in the human sense of color.
The idea of coloring with it is somewhat understandable.

The photo shows a line-engraved stone tablet from the Kuroiwa site in Ehime Prefecture, Japan, dated around 14,500 years ago.
In Europe, Paleolithic people painted cave murals, carved animal paintings on stone tablets, and made horned female statues.
They also carved animal paintings on stone tablets and made horned female statues. In the Japanese archipelago, there are stone products and painted "line-engraved" gravels that are believed to be female statues.
In the Japanese archipelago, there are stone artifacts and gravels that have been "line-engraved" in the form of paintings. What kind of prayers were put into them?
What kind of human psychology was expressed by the shapes and line engravings?

The oldest known "clay figurines," dating from around 13,000 years ago, also depicted feminine breasts.
The sacredness of the act of childbirth is imprinted in the base consciousness of humankind.
The world of consciousness, which is the rebirth of life along with death and reincarnation, has been imprinted on the human race as a subconscious that transcends the everyday.
It is thought that this world of consciousness, which transcends everyday life, has become universalized in humankind as a subconscious awareness.

When I was young, I was once mired in the materialistic historical view that "religion is a drug.
However, as I continue to look at the history of mankind in this way, I am reminded of the reality of the spirit of our ancestors.
I cannot help but feel a great discrepancy with the reality of the minds of our predecessors.