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| Hokkaido Archaeological Research Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hokkaido Archaeological Research Center |
| Native name | 北海道立埋蔵文化財センター |
| Established | 1970s |
| Location | Sapporo, Hokkaido |
| Type | Archaeology museum and research institute |
Hokkaido Archaeological Research Center The Hokkaido Archaeological Research Center is a regional research institute and public museum dedicated to the excavation, preservation, and interpretation of prehistoric and historic sites in Hokkaido and the northern Tōhoku region. It serves as a hub for field archaeology, artifact conservation, and scholarly dissemination related to cultures such as the Jōmon period, Yayoi period, and Ainu. The center works with universities, municipal boards, and national institutions to support heritage management and public archaeology.
The center functions as a combined laboratory, repository, and exhibition space serving Sapporo, Hakodate, and other municipalities on Hokkaido. It maintains collections from archaeological sites including shell middens, pit-dwellings, and burial mounds associated with the Jōmon period, Yayoi period, and later historic contacts with Matsumae Domain, Tokugawa shogunate, and early Meiji Restoration settlement. The institution liaises with cultural agencies such as the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan), Hokkaido Government, and municipal Board of Education (Japan) offices.
The center originated from postwar salvage archaeology initiatives prompted by infrastructure projects like the construction of roads and dams near Ishikari River and urban expansion in Sapporo. Early collaborations involved scholars from Hokkaido University, Tokyo University, Kyoto University, and the National Museum of Japanese History, responding to discoveries of Jōmon pottery, lithic tools, and shell midden assemblages. Over decades the center expanded its mandate during periods of increased cultural policy activity under the Cultural Properties Protection Law (1950), partnerships with municipal governments such as Hakodate City, and the rise of indigenous advocacy from organizations representing the Ainu people.
Permanent and temporary galleries display material culture including lacquerware, pit-comb pottery, polished stone tools, bone and antler implements, and iron objects linked to contacts with Matsumae Domain and Ezo period traders. The repository holds finds from prominent sites like shell middens near Sanriku, settlement traces in the Ishikari Plain, and burial contexts comparable to those curated at the Tokyo National Museum, Hokkaido Museum, and regional municipal museums. Exhibits often reference archaeological frameworks developed by researchers at National Museum of Nature and Science, Rikuzentakata Museum, and university departments such as Hokkaido University Faculty of Letters.
Staff archaeologists publish excavation reports, typologies of Jōmon pottery, radiocarbon calibration studies, and zooarchaeological analyses in journals associated with The Japanese Archaeological Association, Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese History, and university presses like Hokkaido University Press. Research themes include settlement systems, subsistence change, trade networks with Honshu and Sakhalin, and cultural continuities involving the Ainu language area. Projects have incorporated methods from dendrochronology practiced at facilities linked to National Institute for Environmental Studies and isotope analysis in collaboration with University of Tokyo laboratories.
The center runs school programs aligned with curricula from Hokkaido Board of Education and offers hands-on workshops for students and families that mirror practices at institutions such as Kyoto National Museum and Sendai City Museum. Public lectures feature scholars from Hokkaido University, Waseda University, and visiting researchers from University of Cambridge and National Museum of Ethnology (Japan). Outreach includes traveling exhibits to municipal venues in Asahikawa, Obihiro, and coastal communities impacted by development and natural disasters like the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Conservation laboratories employ techniques for stabilization of organic remains, lacquer conservation, and metal desalination consistent with protocols at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties and the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Nara. The center maintains climate-controlled repositories, X-ray and microscopy suites, and GIS and remote sensing equipment used in site survey in collaboration with the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. Short-term storage supports emergency salvage campaigns coordinated with prefectural cultural property offices and the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan).
The center partners with academic institutions including Hokkaido University, Tohoku University, Meiji University, and international collaborators such as researchers from University of British Columbia, Seoul National University, and University of Copenhagen. Joint projects have included interdisciplinary studies with the National Museum of Nature and Science, climate research with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, and community archaeology initiatives with Ainu Association of Hokkaido. Funding and policy coordination involve entities like the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and local governments such as Sapporo City and Hakodate City.
Category:Museums in Hokkaido Category:Archaeological research institutes in Japan