Until recently the history of human civilization was viewed mainly through the Western perspective, which gave the impression that the Western part of the world was central to the development of culture. In the process the Eastern world, particularly the Far East, was overlooked and neglected. Recent research by Japanese and Chinese scholars has however demonstrated that this region witnessed the developments of the world’s earliest human civilization, based on rice cultivation and fishery. As we enter the 21st century, it has became increasingly important to reconstruct the history of human civilization, taking into consideration the concepts and values of both the Eastern and Western civilization in order to understand them better. To focus on the differences between the East and West, this book discusses the origins of pottery, as well as the traditions of wheat and rice cultivation. This book incorporates the results of the most recent works carried out in the Eastern and Wester
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Yoshinori Yasuda
Professor Yoshinori Yasuda was born in 1946 in Mie prefecture in Japan. Since 1994 he has been a professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto (IRCJS). In 1996 he won the Chunichi cultural prize. In the same year he was a visiting professor at Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1997, he was appointed, in addition to his position at the IRCJS, as a professor at the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University. Since 1997, he has been a leader of the YRCP project. In 1980 professor Yasuda established the first unit of environmental archaeology in Japan. Since then he has conducted research in many countires including Korea, Greece, Turkey, India, China and the Himalayan region. Among Professor Yasuda's numerous publications are many books on environmental archaeology and related subjects. They include An Introduction to Environmental Archaeology (NHK books, Tokyo, 1980). Jomon Culture in World History (Yuzankaku, Tokyo, 1980), Forest Destruction and Rise and Fall of Civilization (Shisakusha, Tokyo, 1988), Forest and Civilization (Chikumashobo, Tokyo, 1994), Environment and Civilization (15 vols.) (Asakurashoten, Tokyo, 1995/6), and Forest and Japanese culture (Shinshisakusha, Tokyo, 1996),
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