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Research Title:
Archaeological Research of the Learning Behaviors of the Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans
Research Organization:
Team Leader
- Yoshihiro Nishiaki, Professor,
Prehistoric Archaeology, The University Museum, University of Tokyo
Co-investigators
- Hirofumi Kato, Professor, North Eurasian Archaeology,
Hokkaido University Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies, Hokkaido University
- Seiji Kadowaki, Assistant Professor,
West Asian Archaeology, The Nagoya University Museum, Nagoya University
- Katsuhiro Sano, Assistant Professor,
Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University
- Akira Ono, Professor,
European Archaeology, Center for Obsidian and Lithic Studies, Meiji University
- Katsuhiko Ohnuma, Professor,
Institute for Cultural Studies of Ancient Iraq, Kokushikan University
- Naoko Matsumoto, Associate Professor, Cognitive Archaeology,
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Okayama University
- Kenji Nagai, Research Fellow,
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science/Institute for Cultural Studies of Ancient Iraq,
Kokushikan University
- Hiroto Nakata, Lecturer,
Paleolith Archaeology, College of Literature, Aoyama Gakuin University
- Masaki Naganuma, Research Fellow,
North Eurasian Archaeology, Meiji University Research Unit for Campus Sites
- Yasuhisa Kondo, Project research fellow,
Archaeology, The University Museum, University of Tokyo
Overseas Collaborators
- Olaf Jöris,
Forschungsbereich Altsteinzeit des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums
Invited Researchers
- Yasuo Higurashi, Assistant Professor,
Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University
- Jun Takakura, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaido University
Research Objectives
Learning is a fundamental process of cultural transmission and invention among human societies. Therefore, it is one of the key elements to be investigated for an understanding of the cultural adaptation processes of particular prehistoric societies. Research project A01 aims to characterize the learning behaviors of the Neanderthals and the Early Modern Humans with the aid of pertinent archaeological records of the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic. Focusing on the records of stone tool manufacture, which are considered to be direct evidence of prehistoric learning, this project will explore differences in learning behaviors between these two hominid groups, and will then discuss how those differences contributed to the Neanderthals' eventual replacement.
Research Methods
The research will consist of the following set of analyses: analysis of the archaeological evidence indicative of past learning behaviors at selected sites of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic; analysis of the diachronic and geographic variability of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic industries; analysis of the learning processes of lithic manufacturing through replicative experiments.
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