斜里町チャシコツ岬上遺跡から出土した動物遺体2万点の内容を定量的に把握し, 9世紀に知床半島に展開したオホーツク文化集団の動物利用・動物儀礼に関して, 新たな知見を得た。
精査の結果, 同遺跡から出土した動物遺体にはニシン, タラ類, サケ類などの海産魚類, アザラシや鯨類などの海獣類に加え, ヒグマ, キツネ, テンなどの陸獣遺体も多数含まれていた。しかしながら, その中, エゾシカの遺体は僅かに数点を数えるばかりと, 出土量の少なさが際立っていた。既存の調査成果からは, 9世紀以降, 道東部のオホーツク文化集団が, 総じてエゾシカ猟に盛んに従事し, 頭骨をはじめとするその遺体を竪穴住居内にも祀るようになった様子が窺われている。それだけに, チャシコツ岬遺跡の資料に確認したこの事実は興味深く, 示唆に富む。
上記の事実も含め, 同出土動物遺体の詳細については小稿に纏め, 斜里町教育委員会発行の発掘報告書に寄稿した。また, オホーツク文化集団の動物利用と動物儀礼に見られる地域差・時期差について, これまでに得られた研究成果を発信することにも努めた。特にカナダ・バンクーバーで開催されたアメリカ考古学協会(SAA)の年次総会, 科研費プロジェクトの一環として英国・オックスフォードで開催されたワークショップでの報告は, 海外の研究者の関心を集め, 有益なコメント, 助言も多数得る機会ももたらしてくれた。
21,500 faunal remains have been excavated from the Chashikotsu Misaki-ue site, located in the north coast of the Shiretoko Peninusula. Through a minute and quantitative investigation of these remains, I gained a new knowledge about animal utilization and the animal rituals of the Okhotsk people who lived in Eastern Hokkaido in about ninth century.
They included quite a few terrestrial mammal remains of the brown bear, fox and marten bones in addition to marine fish remains (mainly consisting of herring, cod and salmon bones) and sea mammal remains (mainly consisting of seal and cetacean bones). Ezo-deer remains, however, were hardly found among them. Based on the previous research results, it is clear that the Okhotsk people who lived in Eastern Hokkaido became to hunt deer extensively and enshrined those crania in their pit dwellings from the eighth century onwards. Therefore, this fact is very interesting and offers many implications.
Describing the details of faunal remains from the Chashikotsu Misaki-ue site, I completed an essay and contributed it In the Archaeological Research Report published by the Shari Board of Education. And I also made presentations in Japan and overseas about the regional and chronological differences of animal utilization and the animal rituals of the Okhotsk people. Especially the presentations I made at the Annual Meeting of SAA (Society for American Archaeology) held in Vancouver, Canada, and the JSPS Workshop held in Oxford, UK, attracted foreign researchers' attention, and I could gain many useful comments and suggestions from them.