著者

春成 秀爾

出版者

国立歴史民俗博物館

雑誌

国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告 (ISSN:02867400)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.108, pp.219-242, 2003-10

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2000年11月,日本考古学は「前・中期旧石器遺跡」捏造事件の発覚という,未曾有の学問的・精神的打撃をうけた。事件発覚前に一部の研究者から疑いがかけられていたにもかかわらず,奏功せず,新聞社が隠し撮った映像によって初めて捏造を認めなければならなかった。日本考古学には偽造を見抜く鑑識眼,つまり資料批判の精神とそれを議論する諸条件が十分に発達していなかったと認めるほかない。ここでとりあげる日本の偽造例は,研究者による最初の調査と報告がずさんであったために,数十年にわたって,考古資料として通用してきたものである。イギリスのピルトダウン人骨事件をはじめとして,科学の世界,そして人間の社会には捏造は珍しくない。今回の捏造事件について真に反省する,再発を防止しようというのであれば,考古学の諸分野に適用できる鑑識眼を養成すること,偽造の鑑識結果を発表できる場を用意し,反論できなければ,それを素直に受け入れるという勇気と覚悟をもつことが必要である。偽造や誤断を指摘することが憚られるような学界や人間の気持ちをのりこえたところに,捏造事件後の日本考古学の未来は初めて開けてくるだろう。In November 2000, the Japanese archaeological community received an unparalleled shock in both scholarly and psychological terms with the revelation of the hoax concerning the "Early and Middle-Palaeolithic Finds" in Miyagi Prefecture and Hokkaido. Despite the doubts expressed by some researchers before this hoax was exposed, these had no effect and it was only when a newspaper company took hidden video footage that the scholar involved had to confess to the hoax. There is no choice but to acknowledge that the Japanese archaeological fraternity lacks the critical acumen required to see through such fakes, in that the spirit of critiquing data and the various conditions for debating these data have not been sufficiently developed.In the case of the example of Japanese fakes cited in this paper, the data were accepted as archaeological data for several decades owing to carelessness on behalf of scholars regarding the initial survey and reports.Such fakes are not rare in the scientific world, nor in human society, with the "Piltdown Man" incident in Britain as but one example. If we are to reflect seriously on this recent hoax in Japan and adopt measures to prevent a recurrence, we must foster some kind of system of appraisal that can be applied to the various fields of archaeology, establish a forum where the detection of such fakes can be made public, and, if a counterargument cannot be offered, have the courage and resolve to accept the situation without demur. It will only be when the world of academia and people's sensitivities have overcome their hesitation to point out fakes and misjudgments that, in this post-hoax era, the Japanese archaeological world will be able to lay claim to a future.