Ainu and Okhotsk Articles and News

Hall, M., Maeda, U., and Hudson, M. (2002) Pottery production on Rishiri Island, Japan: perspectives from X-ray fluorescence studies, ARCHAEOMETRY, Vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 213-228.

ABSTRACT: Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) was used to determine the minor and trace element composition of 54 sherds of pottery dating from the Final Jomon to Okhotsk periods. The majority of the sherds came from Rishiri Island, Japan. Principal component (PC) scores were calculated using the log transformed concentration values, and groups were sought in the PC scores using kernel density estimates (KDEs). Two main groups were found in the data; linear and quadratic discriminant analysis classified both groups successfully. Significant differences in the concentrations of Cu, Fe, K, Nb, Pb, Rb, Th and Zr were found to exist between the two groups. The lack of correspondence between chronological ware types and geochemical groups implies that the same raw materials and paste recipes were in use during the Epi-Jomon and Okhotsk eras on Rishiri Island. One possiblity is that the Epi-Jomon and Okhotsk potters used the same clays and tempers, since no other alternatives were available. Alternatively, the Okhotsk potters could have adopted the same paste recipes as the Epi-Jomon potters, or the Okhotsk pottery tradition could be descended from the Epi-Jomon pottery tradition.

Review of K. Honda's Harukor: An Ainu Woman's Tale

Nishimoto, T. editor (2000) Report on the Research Excavation at the Site of Hamanaka 2: Formation Process of the Ainu Culture, Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese History 85.

Download English summary here (PDF documents in a zipped file).

Review of the Smithsonian's Ainu Exhibit.

Review of Toshimitsu Miyajima's Land of the Elms.

Hudson, Mark H. (1999) Ainu Ethnogenesis and the Northern Fujiwara, ARCTIC ANTHROPOLOGY 36, 73-83.

ABSTRACT: This paper argues that the Oshu or Northern Fujiwara played a central role in precipitating the socioeconomic changes that led to Ainu ethnogenesis in early medieval　Hokkaido. From their capital in Hiraizumi in modern Iwate Prefecture, the Northern　Fujiwara ruled a large, semi-independent kingdom in northeastern Honshu from the end of the 11th century until their defeat by the Kamakura shogunate in 1189. Over the past few years, a number of Japanese scholars have discussed trading and other connections between　the Northern Fujiwara and Hokkaido, but theoritical perspectives on this relationship remain poorly developed. Elsewhere, I have argued that world systems theory is a useful way of modeling the complex processes of interaction in early medieval Northeast Asia. Using　that theoritical basis as a background, this paper looks in more detail at the relationship　between the Northern Fujiwara and Formative Ainu society.


Ainu Links:

The Ainu Museum, Hokkaido

American Museum of Natural History,Jesup Expedition

Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture

Nova Web page on the Ainu

Smithsonian Ainu Exhibit

　

　

　

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