NEWS STORY UPLOAD DATE: February 19, 2009

Prof. MIYAMOTO Kazuo 宮本一夫, chair of the Department of Archaeology at Kyushu University (Fukuoka, Japan), visited ICEAACH and the Boston University Department of Archaeology from Monday, February 9, through Saturday, February 14. Prof. Miyamoto's visit to BU was to discuss opportunities for exchange and collaboration between our departments' faculty and students. Prof. Miyamoto participated in several productive meetings with Archaeology Dept. Chair Prof. Rick Elia and members of the faculty, and negotiations for possible collaborations are moving forward. In addition, a special discussion session organized by graduate student's Satoru MURATA and Kay MAKINO was held to give students in our department a chance to meet Prof. Miyamoto and discuss Japanese archaeology and opportunities for exchange with students at Kyushu University.

The Kyushu University Department of Archaeology is also becoming a major collaborator in Japan for the ARC/Base bibliographic database of East Asian archaeology. While at ICEAACH, Prof. Miyamoto and Dr. David Cohen held a series of discussions on how best to organize Kyushu University's participation in the project and the types of activities that should be carried out in Japan for the project.

A highlight of Prof. Miyamoto's visit was his presentation on Tuesday, February 10, to the East Asian Archaeology Forum. His talk, "A Four Phase Theory on the Spread of Early Agriculture in Northeastern Asia," presented recent archaeological studies concerning the introduction of agriculture into the Russian Far East, Korea, and Shandong. The talk highlighted important collaborative fieldwork being undertaken by Prof. Miyamoto and his students and colleagues at Kyushu University and their partners in Russia, Korea, and China.

ICEAACH is very pleased that Prof. Miyamoto was able to visit and share with us his rich experience and knowledge of archaeology in East Asia. We look forward to many future collaborations and exchanges with him and his department.