TephroArchaeology in the North Pacific 1st Edition by Gina Barnes, Tsutomu Soda 1789691729 978-17896917

‘TephroArchaeology’ is a translation of the Japanese word kazanbai kōkogaku (lit. volcanic ash archaeology), referring to a sub-discipline of archaeology that has developed in Japan in the last few decades. The first book compilation using the term, edited by the doyen of tephroarchaeology, geologist Arai Fusao, appeared in 1993; chapters were written by 5 geologists, 3 archaeologists, 3 geographers, an engineer, and a historian. From its beginning, this subdiscipline has been interdisciplinary in approach and applied to all time periods throughout the Japanese Islands. Honouring this tradition, a panel on TephroArchaeology was organized by Barnes & Soda at the World Archaeology Congress 8 meetings in Kyoto (August–September 2016). The scope of concern was broadened to include other parts of the world and further disciplines. Several of the papers presented at WAC8 are included here together with other invited papers that complete the North Pacific focus. Most of the chapters are case-studies written by their excavators in Japan, Canada, and the United States, but a historian and a behavioural psychologist contribute important perspectives and add world-wide content. The volume is rounded out by an extensive Preface, Introduction and Appendices by co-editor Barnes, and a historic contextualization of TephroArchaeology by co-editor Soda. A final appendix consists of a translation of the techniques of tephra identification by Machida Hiroshi & Arai Fusao, to whom the volume is dedicated. The strengths of this book are many. It was primarily designed to bring into the English-speaking world the work being done by local archaeologists in Japan whose results are usually only accessible in Japanese. In addition to the meticulous excavation methodologies, innovative analytical techniques and interpretive analyses represented herein by all the authors are the variety of problems in human history that can be addressed through tephroarchaeological investigation. This subdiscipline may spawn a more general Volcanic Archaeology or Archaeological Volcanology as adherents grow and as volcanologists themselves take heed of the archaeological record to inform on eruption processes and products.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. Gina L. BARNES, “Introduction to TephroArchaeology”

Chapter 2. SODA Tsutomu, “Tephroarchaeology and its history in Japan”

Chapter 3. KUWAHATA Mitsuhiro, “Volcanic disaster archaeology: comments on methodological prospects and issues”

Chapter 4. Gerald OETELAAR, “Volcanic ash and landscape evolution: reconstruction of a 7000-year old landscape on the northwestern Great Plains of North America”

Chapter 5. Ben FITZHUGH, Caroline FUNK & Jody BOURGEOIS, “Volcanoes and settlement in the North Pacific: late Holocene settlement patterns in the Western Aleutian and Kuril Islands”

Chapter 6. MURAKAMI Yoshinao, “Katakai-Ienoshita Site, Akita, buried by the Mt Towada lahar in the 10th century”

Chapter 7. Keith PRATT, “Portrait of a volcano: the paradox of Paektu (Changbaishan)”

Chapter 8. MARUYAMA Kōji, “Volcanic disaster research using archaeological methods: 10th-century eruptions and population movements in northern Tōhoku, Japan”

Chapter 9. HORAGUCHI Masashi, “TephroArchaeology in the Gunma region”

Chapter 10. SUGIYAMA Hidehiro, “Disasters at Kanai, Gunma, by Mt Haruna eruptions in the Kofun Period”

Chapter 11. SAKAGUCHI Hajime, “Archaeological investigation of the seasonality and duration of the 6th-century eruptions from Mt Haruna”

Chapter 12. KUWAHATA Mitsuhiro, “Restoration of agricultural assets after volcanic disasters in southwest Japan”

Chapter 13. Gina L. BARNES, “Tephra-derived soils of Japan in comparative context”

Chapter 14. NOTO Takeshi & Gina L. BARNES, “Farming tephrogenic soils in Gunma: before and after volcanic eruptions”

Chapter 15. Torill Christine LINDSTRØM, “TephroArchaeology: past, present, and future”

Appendix A. Gina L. BARNES, “A Map and Chronological Charts”

Appendix B. Gina L. BARNES, “Volcanic Geology”

Appendix C. Gina L. BARNES, “Tectonic Setting of North Pacific Volcanoes”

Appendix D. Gina L. BARNES, “Volcanic Soils Geochemistry”

Appendix E. MACHIDA Hiroshi & ARAI Fusao, “The History of Tephra Characterization in Japan”

Glossary and Character Index by Chapter

Index I: Archaeological Sites

Index II: Volcanoes and Related Geological Terms