A01 Material & Mind

Long-term change of the mind-body-cognition system evidenced in material culture (Matter and Mind Group)

The Matter and Mind Group focuses on the co-creation of the material-mind relationship, in which humans create things and things create humans, to clarify how the human mind, body, and cognitive system changed during the process from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to the formation of cities and nations through the analysis of archaeological materials. We will study the emergence and diffusion of pressure flaking technology in the Paleolithic, the phenomenon of the emergence and spread of pottery, the dynamics of anthropomorphic artifacts such as clay figurines, and the relationship between the appearance and use of writing and material culture, using the following perspectives and methods to approach the creation and transformation of artifacts captured by multiple physical senses, as well as the materialization of information and the formation of transmission systems.

(1) Quantitative analysis of the material, morphological, and distributional characteristics of archaeological material
(2) Examination of the cognitive characteristics of archaeological materials through eye tracking and psychological experiments
(3) Combination of restoration experiments using 3D data and experiential experiments using VR

We will also conduct Kinesiology research with the "Behavior and System" group and psychological experiments in collaboration with the "Art and Emotion" group. The project will focus on the period from the Paleolithic Era to state formation in the Japanese archipelago, where archaeological materials are abundant. It will elucidate the dynamics of material culture at the time of a major social transition. The analysis of the anthropomorphic figurines, which is the basis for considering changes in the view of humans and the body, will be analyzed in comparison with other parts of the world, which developed independently of each other, to clarify the universality of the material mind and its cultural and historical specificity in cooperation with the "Human and Environment" Group.