Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
An Archaeological History of Japan, 30,000 B.C. to A.D. 700

An Archaeological History of Japan, 30,000 B.C. to A.D. 700

Mizoguchi, Koji

Hardcover

Series: Archaeology, Culture, and Society

ArchaeologyJapanese History

ISBN10: 0812236513
ISBN13: 9780812236514
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: May 7 2002
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.35
Height: 1.10 Width: 6.30 Depth: 9.20
Language: English

A notion widely shared among the Japanese is that a unique culture has existed uninterrupted on the archipelago since the first human settlements more than 30,000 years ago. The idea of a continuous shared Japanese culture, often described as Japanese-ness, is epitomized by material items ranging from Zen Buddhist stone gardens and tea ceremony equipment to such archaeological artifacts as the prehistoric Jomon clay figurines. An Archaeological History of Japan challenges this notion by critically examining archaeological evidence as well as the way it has been interpreted.

By combining techniques of traditional archaeological investigation with the tools of contemporary critical sociological and anthropological theory, An Archaeological History of Japan reveals the contingent, reflexive nature of how the prehistoric inhabitants of the Japanese islands identified themselves as they mapped their social and cultural environment. Koji Mizoguchi demonstrates that this process of self-identification underwent transformations as societies and technology changed, indicating that there is no intrinsic connection binding present-day Japanese with people of the past.

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