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.authorAnderson, Atholl
dc.contributor.authorSummerhayes, Glenn
dc.date.accessioned2010-08-04T19:56:26Z
dc.date.available2010-08-04T19:56:26Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.description.abstractA 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 artiĀ£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.citationAnderson, 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.issn1535-8283 (E-ISSN)
dc.identifier.issn0066-8435 (Print)
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10125/17279
dc.publisherUniversity of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu)
dc.relation.ispartofseriesVolume 47
dc.relation.ispartofseriesNumber 1
dc.subjectYaeyama Islands
dc.subjectJapan
dc.subjectpolished waisted axe
dc.subjectHolocene colonization
dc.subject.lcshPrehistoric peoples--Asia--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcshPrehistoric peoples--Oceania--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcshAsia--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcshOceania--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcshEast Asia--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.titleEdge-Ground and Waisted Axes in the Western Pacific Islands: Implications for an Example from the Yaeyama Islands, Southernmost Japan
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.dcmiText

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Asian Perspectives, 2008 - Volume 47, Number 1 (Spring)