Research

One focus of my research has been on the population and residential mobility during the Jomon period. My earlier research projects involved calculating juvenility index values as a birthrate proxy to investigate the "boom and bust" population pattern during the Middle Jomon period. In an attempt to gain a clearer view of population changes I then began to examine residential mobility patterns through the examination of pithouse remains from a viewpoint of architectural energetics and the intended use life of dwellings. To try to better understand the potential material and energetic costs associated with different pithouse styles I began scanning pithouse reconstructions as experimental archaeological foundations which could be expanded upon and experimented with in a digital space.   

My work investigating and experimenting with different 3D applications in archaeology stemmed from my initial 3D scanning of pithouse reconstructions. Initial testing was done in collaboration with the Lake Biwa museum where we tested different 3D scanning approaches to a variety of different archaeological and more recent local historical objects. Utilizing the knowledge gained from these tests I continued to work with additional archaeological artifacts like pottery recovered from the Tsuzuraozaki lakebed site in Shiga prefecture. I incorporated the use of smaller consumer drone photogrammetry as I began working on larger scale scans such as excavations at the Sugisawa site in Shiga prefecture, the Suwahara site in Yamanashi prefecture, and the scanning and recording of several stone circle sites in northern Japan.