Extension lectures

The Meiji University Center for Obsidian and Lithic Studies (COLS) has been a research facility affiliated with the Organization of the Strategic Coordination of Research and Intellectual Properties since April 2010. Prehistoric people used obsidian as a lithic raw material throughout the Stone Age, from as early as 38,000 years ago, at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic period. The COLS has carried out a research project to construct a history of relationships between prehistoric humans and the natural resources that surrounded them, which is connected with the dynamics of paleoenvironmental changes. The COLS extension lectures offer research from a broad range of topics to everyday citizens.
The 1st extension lectures (2010): Humans and the natural resource exploitation of obsidian, Part 1.

• 25. October.
  Akira Ono. Lithic resource environment in prehistory: a comparative perspective study
  between Japanese Islands and Europe
• 8. November.
  Kazutaka Shimada. Earliest settlements in the Japanese islands and obsidian
  exploitation
• 15. November.
  Takashi Tsutsumi. Hunters of microblade industries and obsidian use 18,000 years ago
• 22. November.
  Minoru Oyokawa. Origin of obsidian mining activities and the formation of Jomon culture
• 29. November.
  Susumu Aida. A message from the Jomon: Obsidian supply zone of source areas, and the pioneers of their studies

The 2nd extension lectures (2011): Humans and the natural resource exploitation of obsidian, Part 2.

• 5. December.
  Yuichiro Kudo. Chronology and environmental history in the Upper Palaeolithic and
  Jomon periods: Using a high-resolution dating method
• 12. December.
  Kiyoshi Miyasaka. Obsidian sources in the Central Highlands of Nagano Prefecture, and the obsidian mining sites in the Jomon age
• 19. December.
  Jun Suwama. Chronologies of the Upper Palaeolithic industries, and the changes in
  obsidian exploitaion
• 16. January.
  Akira Yamashina. Significance of deposited obsidian in the Jomon: an examination of the nature of obsidian caches
• 2.January
  Nobuyuki Ikeya. To whom does the obsidian belong ? A perspective study on obsidian resource management in the Upper Palaeolitic and Jomon periods.