YAMASAKI Shinji

Apr 1998 – Mar 2000: B.A., Department of History and Culture, Faculty of Letters, The University of Tokyo
Apr 2000 – Mar 2002: M.A., Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo
Feb 2010: Ph.D. (Literature), The University of Tokyo
Apr 2005 – Mar 2007: Contract Staff, Saga City Board of Education
Apr 2007 – Oct 2007: Specialist, Cultural Facilities Construction Office, Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education
Nov 2007 – Mar 2010: Specialist, Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum
Apr 2010 – Mar 2019: Senior Specialist, Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum
Apr 2019 – Present: Chief Curator, Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum

Prehistoric archaeology.
Mainly interest in Paleolithic humans and prehistoric cultures of the Ryukyu Islands from the perspective of human history.

From 2010: Board Member, Okinawa Archaeological Society
From 2011: Representative, Okinawa Pleistocene Human Research Group
2016 – 2018: Committee Member, Minatogawa Fisher Site Maintenance Review Committee
From 2017: National Committee Member, Society of Archaeological Studies
2018 – 2022: Executive Member, Japanese Paleolithic Research Association

 2023: Paper Award, Japanese Paleolithic Research Association 

 2010 – 2012: Matsushita International Foundation Research Grant
“Comparative Archaeological Study on Human Expansion into Subtropical Islands and Environmental Adaptation Technologies”
2011 – 2013: Research Group Grant, Japanese Paleolithic Research Association

 

2026	Shell Midden Culture of the Ryukyus: Lifeways of Shell Midden People and Maritime Interaction. Shinsensha, 264 pp.
2015	Paleolithic People Living on Islands: The Sakitari Cave Site and the Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave Site. Series “Learning from Archaeological Sites,” No. 104, Shinsensha, 93 pp.

2007	Yamasaki, S. & Takahashi, K.& Takahashi, K. An archaeological study of the Jomon shellmound at Hikosaki,  Bulletin No.43, The University Museum, The University of Tokyo. 331P.
2006	Yamasaki, S., Hatsukano, H., Suwa, G. Shell Midden Specimens from Rikuhira in the Collection of the University Museum, The University of Tokyo. Bulletin No. 67, 316 pp.

 (and multiple excavation reports, exhibition catalogues, and edited volumes related to Okinawan archaeology and the Sakitari Cave site, 2009–2021)

2020	Fujita, M., Yamasaki, S., Sawaura, R. The Migration, Culture, and Lifestyle of the Paleolithic Ryukyu Islanders. In Ono, R., Pawlik, A. eds. Pleistocene Archaeology - Migration, Technology, and Adaptation. (IntechOpen) DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.92391,
	“Origins of Prehistoric Pottery in the Southern Islands.” Kyushu Jomon Early Period Research Notes 6: 313–325.
2019	Takamiya, H., Katagiri, C., Yamasaki, S., Fujita, M. Human colonization of the Central Ryukyus (Amami and Okinawa Archipelagos), Japan. Island and Coastal Archaeology 14(3): 375-393.
2016	Fujita, M., Yamasaki, S., Katagiri, C., Oshiro, I., Sano, K., Kurozumi, T., Sugawara, H., Kunikita, D., Matsuzaki, H., Kano, A., Okumura, T., Sone, T., Fujita, H., Kobayashi, S., Naruse, T., Kondo, M., Matsu’ura, S., Suwa, G., and Kaifu, Y. Advanced maritime adaptation in the western Pacific coastal region extends back to 35,000–30,000 years before present. PNAS 113(40): 11184-11189.
2014	Fujita, M., Yamasaki, S., Sugawara, H., Eda, M. "Body size reduction in wild boar (Sus scrofa) from the late Pleistocene Maehira Fissure Site in Okinawa-jima Island, Japan, with relevance to human arrival". Quaternary International 339: 289-299.