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Since 1982 when numerous bones of dolphins were excavated
from the Mawaki site at Noto-machi and a new aquarium was opened in the
Notojima, some interesting occurrences around the Noto Peninsula have sucessively
called our attention to cetaceans: curious cetaceans often stranded on
the coast of the Japan Sea; Miocene fossils of a cetacean were excavated
from Osugizaki, Nanao-shi.
As the documents written in 1838 show, dolphin driving fishing flourished
at the Mawaki in the Edo period. But it is after the excavation research
on the Jomon-period site started that the dolphin "fishing" in
the Mawaki, now a thing of the past, has focused much attention of not
only specific scholars but also the general public.
The whaling in Korea dates back to the prehistoric age, too. The fact is
well shown by the rock engraving at Ban-gu Dae, furthermore by cetacean
bones from the prehistoric or ancient sites in Korea. The changes of whaling
thereafter pose very interesting problems in relation to the difference
of food custom between Japan and Korea.
According to the archaeological materials in Japan and the peripheral regions,
ancient whaling cannot be regarded as necessarily passive. There are also
regional differences between ancient whaling peoples in the importence
of cetaceans and other marine mammals as food resorces. Jomon-period people
in the Honshu, even in the coastal sites with many dolphin bones, took
a balanced diet of various land and aquatic resources.
(I B I REPORTS, 3:63-69, 1992)
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