Edge-Ground and Waisted Axes in the Western Pacific Islands: Implications for an Example from the Yaeyama Islands, Southernmost Japan

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dc.contributor.author Anderson, Atholl
dc.contributor.author Summerhayes, Glenn
dc.date.accessioned 2010-08-04T19:56:26Z
dc.date.available 2010-08-04T19:56:26Z
dc.date.issued 2008
dc.description.abstract A flaked, ground, and waisted axe, discovered on Iriomote Island in the Yaeyama group, southernmost Japan, appears to be a unique find in Japanese prehistory. Its resemblance to waisted, edge-ground axes which, in Australia, are of Pleistocene age, and to similar artifacts of early Holocene age in New Guinea, as well as potential antecedents in the Pleistocene edge-ground axes of Honshu, invites questions about its significance. This is especially so because the Yaeyama Islands are regarded currently as having been first occupied by people during the Shimotabaru phase of Neolithic culture, beginning about 3800 B.P. Comparison with similar western Pacific arti£1cts, and consideration of the eustatic history of the Yaeyamas, suggest that the Iriomote example might be of early Holocene age, although its origin within the late Holocene cannot be excluded. The find raises questions about the human history of the southern Ryukyu groups that demand further research. Keywords: Yaeyama Islands, Japan, polished waisted axe, Holocene colonization.
dc.identifier.citation Anderson, A., and G. Summerhayes. 2008. Edge-Ground and Waisted Axes in the Western Pacific Islands: Implications for an Example from the Yaeyama Islands, Southernmost Japan. Asian Perspectives 47 (1): 45-58.
dc.identifier.issn 1535-8283 (E-ISSN)
dc.identifier.issn 0066-8435 (Print)
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10125/17279
dc.publisher University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu)
dc.relation.ispartofseries Volume 47
dc.relation.ispartofseries Number 1
dc.subject Yaeyama Islands
dc.subject Japan
dc.subject polished waisted axe
dc.subject Holocene colonization
dc.subject.lcsh Prehistoric peoples--Asia--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcsh Prehistoric peoples--Oceania--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcsh Asia--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcsh Oceania--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcsh East Asia--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.title Edge-Ground and Waisted Axes in the Western Pacific Islands: Implications for an Example from the Yaeyama Islands, Southernmost Japan
dc.type Article
dc.type.dcmi Text
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Asian Perspectives, 2008 - Volume 47, Number 1 (Spring)