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Emergence and Development of the Pressure Microblade Production: A View from the Upper Paleolithic of Northern Japan

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The Emergence of Pressure Blade Making

Abstract

In this chapter, I attempt to review archaeological records before and after the appearance of microblade assemblages in Hokkaido, Northern Japan. It demonstrates that the pressure microblade production appeared suddenly in this area around 20,000 years B.P. This is confirmed by the well-preserved stratigraphical context and several radiocarbon dates from the Kashiwadai-1 site. In addition, it is possible that the emergence of the pressure microblade production was associated with diffusion from some area adjacent to Hokkaido. Such an intrusive phenomenon may be closely related to the large-scale migrations of hunter-gatherers who attempted to adapt to drastic environmental fluctuations, suggested by comparisons of the chronometric dates of environmental events and the archaeological record.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Dr. Ichiro Yamanaka for his encouragement and valuable suggestions on my research. I am also grateful for the insights of one anonymous reviewer whose comments improved this paper. Additionally, my thanks extend to Pierre M. Desrosiers and Noura Rahmani who organized the session on pressure blade and microblade production. Of course, all errors are my responsibility.

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  1. Archaeological Research Center, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Jun Takakura

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  1. Jun Takakura
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Correspondence to Jun Takakura .

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  1. Avataq Cultural Institute, Avenue du Parc 6700, Montreal, H2V 4H9, Québec, Canada

    Pierre M. Desrosiers

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Takakura, J. (2012). Emergence and Development of the Pressure Microblade Production: A View from the Upper Paleolithic of Northern Japan. In: Desrosiers, P. (eds) The Emergence of Pressure Blade Making. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2003-3_11

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