Japanese Paleolithic Hoax

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The Japanese Paleolithic Hoax (旧石器捏造事件 Kyū Sekki Netsuzō Jiken?) consisted of a number of lower and middle paleolithic finds in Japan discovered by amateur archaeologist Fujimura Shinichi, which were later all discovered to have been faked. The incident became one of the biggest scandals in archaeological circles in Japan after the story was published by the Mainichi Shinbun in a morning edition article on November 5, 2000.

For finds from the Jōmon period or later, structures were originally made by digging below the then-current surface, causing changes in soil composition that make it much easier to discern fakes from real finds. The Paleolithic Hoax highlighted some of the shortcomings of Japanese archaeological research into paleolithic sites, such as an over-reliance on the dating of volcanic ash layers while ignoring other soil layers.

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[edit] Discovery of the hoax

At the time of the discovery in November 2000, hoax perpetrator Fujimura Shinichi was working as deputy director of the Tōhoku Paleolithic Institute, a private research center. He had begun faking discoveries when he was working as an amateur archaeologist back in the 1970s when he became close to various paleolithic research groups in Miyagi Prefecture. Fujimura found numerous artifacts and relics in quick succession, of the type and age (Roman strata) that researchers in the area were hoping to find, which earned him a reputation as an indispensable member of any archaeological team, with some going so far as say he was "God's hand" when it came to finds. In fact, as much as 90% of Fujimura's "discoveries" were found by the man himself, while the finds of those accompanying Fujimura are thought to have been planted by him beforehand. Fujimura's finds were mostly paleolithic items collected from other archaeological surveys of Jōmon-era sites. It has still not been completely ascertained where these artifacts were taken from, though they were likely from elsewhere in the Tōhoku region. The hoax "finds" were located primarily in Miyagi Prefecture, with some as far north as Hokkaidō and others as far south as the southern Kantō region.

The Mainichi Shinbun exposé concerned just the Kamitakamori site near Tsukidate, Miyagi Prefecture, and the Sōshin Fudōzaka site in Hokkaidō, but news of the hoax sparked reappraisals at all sites Fujimura had been involved in, which found evidence of scrapes and damage from prior unearthing on many of the paleolithic articles Fujimura had been connected with. Investigations showed that the hoax went so far as the same items being "discovered" more than once, and fake paleolithic items being buried for later "discovery".

[edit] Reaction

Researchers into the lower and middle paleolithic periods in the Japanese archipelago were initially critical of Fujimura's finds as there was little expectation that stone tools of such an age would be found in Japan. However, Fujimura's success in finding artifacts soon silenced his critics, and his reputation as a leading amateur archaeologist was firmly established in the early 1980s. Prior to discovery of the hoax, Japan's paleolithic period was thought to have started earlier than anywhere else in Asia at around 700,000 BCE, but the revelation of Fujimura's duplicity shook Japanese lower and middle paleolithic research to its core, as much of it had been built on the foundation Fujimura had laid.

There was sharp criticism that such a flawed theory could have been blindly accepted for so long despite strong criticism from some quarters. Immediately after the hoax discovery, the Japanese Archaeological Association formed a special committee which spent two and a half years reviewing the incident, releasing a report in May 2003 concluding that Fujimura's work was indeed the product of a hoax.

Taking a calm look at the various stone implements and excavations, it becomes clear that a number of the items and sites are rather unnatural and do not make archaeological sense, such as those exhumed from pyroclastic flow strata, but nonetheless archaeological groups of the time ignored these inconsistencies. There were also "finds" that were quite difficult to believe, such as stone implements whose cross sections just by chance happened to match those for items found at sites several tens of kilometers away.

Moreover, there was an enormous amount of indirect involvement by supporting organizations based on Fujimura's remarkable successes, including instances such as the government naming sites as national historical sites, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs sponsoring special exhibitions. Local governments in the Tōhoku region, where many of the sites were located, were particularly guilty of such uncritical support, as they were quick to use Fujimura's "findings" as the basis for creating specialty products and tourist attractions for building up the local economy, focusing on the idea that the history of their respective counties, towns, and villages went back several hundred thousand years. This no doubt helped feed into the perpetuation of the hoax.

Criticism was difficult while so many lower and middle paleolithic sites were being found, and aside from a critical paper published in 1986, there was no real criticism again until another paper was released in 1998, to be followed by only two more in 2000. The thrust of the argument in 2000 was that the problematic paleolithic findings were "odd" compared to other lower and middle paleolithic findings. However, the academic world showed no signs of heeding this fair criticism until the Mainichi Shinbun's scoop was published.

Fujimura's duplicity did not stop there, however. After the Japanese Archaeological Association's special committee reported the results of its survey into these problems in lower and middle paleolithic archaeology, it was revealed that Fujimura's hoax extended beyond the paleolithic era to include Jōmon sites as well.

[edit] See also

  • Piltdown man - A hoax in England, perpetrated in the early 20th century

[edit] References

 This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
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  • Mainichi Shinbun, paleolithic site team; Hakkutsu Netsuzō (『発掘捏造』? "Excavation Hoax"), published by Shinchō Bunko (新潮文庫?); ISBN 4-10-146823-0
  • Mainichi Shinbun, paleolithic site team; Kodaishi Netsuzō (『古代史捏造』? "Ancient History Hoax"), published by Shinchō Bunko (新潮文庫?); ISBN 4-10-146824-9
Accounts written by the members of Mainichi Shinbun's paleolithic site team who discovered the hoax. The first item above covers events up to the discovery of the hoax, while the second discusses the discovery's impact.
  • Masao Okuno; Kamigami no Yogoreta Te - Kyū Sekki Netsuzō: Dare mo Kakanakatta Shinsō (『神々の汚れた手―旧石器捏造・誰も書かなかった真相』? "The Gods' Dirty Hand - The Paleolithic Hoax: The Unwritten Truth"); ISBN 4-87035-221-4
The report by the Japanese Archaeological Association portrays the hoax as perpetrated by one man, but this book makes the claim that there were actually many accomplices.
  • Special Committee for Investigating Problems in Lower and Middle Paleolithic Archaeology, editors; Zen- / Chūki Kyū Sekki Mondai no Kenshō (『前・中期旧石器問題の検証』? "Inspection into Problems in Lower and Middle Paleolithic Archaeology")
The actual survey report published by the Japanese Archaeological Association.

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