Asian Paleolithic AssociationJapanese Palaeolithic Research Association
Third Circular
The 12th Meeting of the Asian Paleolithic Association
Sendai, Japan, June 20th - 24th, 2025
Dear colleagues,
We are happy to inform you about the 3rd circular of the 12th meeting of the Asian Paleolithic Association (APA) from June 20th to 24th, 2025, held at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. We appreciate your participation in the meeting and contributions to the symposium, and oral and poster sessions.
We will have a special lecture on the first day (June 20th) given by Prof. Xing Gao at IVPP, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The meeting comprises eight podium presentations at the symposium, 28 oral presentations at the conference sessions, and 36 poster presentations. The symposium will be held on the second day (June 21st), “Early Upper Palaeolithic in Asia: Commonality and diversity after the IUP”. Prof. Robin Dennell (Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter) will kindly offer a keynote lecture, “Settlement, survival and extinction in the steppe during and after the IUP in MIS 3”. Diverse, fruitful oral presentations will be delivered at the three conference sessions (June 21st and 22nd). Moreover, important and latest results will be introduced by poster presentations (June 22nd). We are exciting to have wonderful presentations at the meeting thanks to your contributions.
Please note that the venue for the first day (20th) is different from that for the second and third days (21st and 22nd), as following:
Venues
- June 20
- TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity (B 02), Katahira Campus, Tohoku University
- June 21 - 22
- Multimedia Education and Research Complex (A05), Kawauchi Campus, Tohoku University
We look forward to seeing you soon in Sendai, Japan.
With best regards,
Organizing Committee
- Hiroyuki SATO (President of APA, Emeritus Professor, The University of Tokyo)
- Katsuhiro SANO (Program Committee, Tohoku University)
- Masami IZUHO (Program Committee, Tokyo Metropolitan University)
- Kazuki MORISAKI (Program Committee, The University of Tokyo)
- Yu HIRASAWA (Program Committee, University of East Asia)
- Miho SUZUKI (Meiji University)
- Yoshitaka KANOMATA (Tohoku University)
- Masayoshi OBA (Yamagata Prefectural Center for Archaeological Research)
- Akira IWASE (Tokyo Metropolitan University)
- Takashi TSUTSUMI (President of JPRA, Meiji University)
1. PROGRAM
JUNE 20 (FRIDAY) TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity (B 02), Katahira Campus
| 15:30-17:30 | Registration |
| 16:00-17:30 | Special lecture: Paleolithic industries in China and implications for hominin evolution trajectories in East Asia Prof. Xing Gao (Honorary president of APA, IVPP, Chinese Academy of Sciences) |
| 18:00-20:00 | Welcome party |
JUNE 21 (SATURDAY) Multimedia Education and Research Complex (A05), Kawauchi Campus
| Welcome address 1 - Hiroyuki Sato (President of APA) | |
| 09:05-09:10 | Welcome address 2 - Takashi Tsutsumi (President of JPRA) |
| 09:15-11:45 | Session I: Recent progress in studies on lithic technology and paleoanthropology of genus Homo in Asia |
| 09:15-09:30 | Yosuke Kaifu, Chih-Hsing Lin, & Yu-Lin K. Chang Palaeolithic seafaring in East Asia: Theory, experimental voyage, and simulation |
| 09:30-09:45 | Chengqiu Lu Discovery and research at Xuetangliangzi, the Yunxian Man site |
| 09:45-10:00 | Wenting Xia & Shejiang Wang Lithic technological continuity and innovation in the late Middle Pleistocene: A case study from the Longgangsi Locality 1 in the Hanzhong Basin, Central China |
| 10:00-10:15 | Xiaoling Zhang, Shejiang Wang, & Xing Gao Paleolithic discoveries and research on Tibetan Plateau |
| 10:15-10:45 | Coffee break |
| 10:45-11:00 | Yongwook Yoo & Minsoo Kim Late Pleistocene handaxe assemblages from the Korean Peninsula: Their age and regional characteristics |
| 11:00-11:15 | Yoshihiro Nishiaki, Azad Zeynalov, & Yagub Mamadov The Middle Paleolithic lithic industry of Taglar Cave, Azerbaijan, in the South Caucasus |
| 11:15-11:30 | Arina Khatsenovich, Evgeny Rybin, John W. Olsen, Alexey Klementiev, Junyi Ge, Snezhana Zhilich, Dashzeveg Bazargur, Yadmaa Tserendagva, Byambaa Gunchinsuren, Daria Marchenko, & Irina Vishnevskaya Lithic industries, climatic background and chronology of Middle Paleolithic in Mongolia |
| 11:30-11:45 | Ke Shen, Feng Li, & Xing Gao Exploring the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Northern China: Technological variations at the Xujiacheng Site and Shixiakou Loc. 2 |
| 11:45-13:30 | Lunch (12:10 - 13:10 JPRA General Assembly, Kawauchi Lecture Rooms C [A04]) |
| 13:30-18:00 | Symposium: Early Upper Palaeolithic in Asia: Commonality and diversity after the IUP |
| 13:30-13:40 | Opening address - Katsuhiro Sano (Chair of program committee) |
| 13:40-14:40 | Keynote lecture: Settlement, survival and extinction in the steppe during and after the IUP in MIS 3 Prof. Robin Dennell (Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter) |
| 14:40-15:00 | Coffee break |
| 15:00-15:20 | Nicolas Zwyns, Masami Izuho, Tsedendorj Bolorbat, Clea Paine, Guunii, Lkhundev, Davaaku Odsuren, Fumito Akai, Igor Djakovic, Damien Flas, Jovan Galfi, Giulia Gallo, J. Christopher Gillam, Fumie Iizuka, Corey Johnson, Timothee Libois, Madison McCartin, Yuichi Nakazawa, Solange Rigaud, Shunsuke Totsuka, Peiqi Zhang, Byambaa Gunchinsuren, & Sahra Talamo The Early Upper Paleolithic at Tolbor-17 and its significance for the regional cultural sequence |
| 15:20-15:40 | Evgeny P. Rybin, Arina M. Khatsenovich, Dmitry V. Kobylkin, Kseniya A. Kolobova, Byambaa Gunchinsuren Cultural transfers and shifts in the Early Upper Paleolithic of North-Central Mongolia |
| 15:40-16:00 | Feng Li What happened after Initial Upper Paleolithic in Northern China: An overview of the regional lithic technological variations between 40 to 25 ka BP |
| 16:00-16:20 | Peiqi Zhang, Nicolas Zwyns, Fei Peng, Sam C. Lin, Corey L. Johnson, Jialong Guo, Huiming Wang, & Xing Gao After the blades: An Early Upper Paleolithic core-and-flake assemblage at Shuidonggou Locality 2, North China |
| 16:20-16:40 | Coffee break |
| 16:40-17:00 | E. Andrew Bennett The genetic landscape of Upper Paleolithic Northeast Asia |
| 17:00-17:20 | Kaoru Otani & Eunjeong Kim Lithic reduction patterns and assemblage diversity in the Early Upper Paleolithic of the Korean Peninsula |
| 17:20-17:40 | Shunsuke Totsuka, Kazuki Morisaki, Masami Izuho, & Katsuhiro Sano Origin, population dynamics, and cultural complexity of the Japanese early Upper Palaeolithic |
| 17:40-18:00 | Masaki Fujita Human, culture, and nature in the Ryukyu Islands after Early Upper Paleolithic |
| 18:15-19:15 | APA board meeting (Kawauchi Lecture Rooms C [A04]) |
JUNE 22 (SUNDAY) Multimedia Education and Research Complex (A05), Kawauchi Campus
| Session II: Early Upper Palaeolithic technology, fauna, and site formation in Asia | |
| 09:00-09:15 | Yueshu Zhang, Feng Li, & Christopher Miller Site formation of the caves in the steppe region: A case study on a Middle to Upper Paleolithic sequence at Jinsitai by means of micromorphological analyses |
| 09:15-09:30 | Yixiao Li, Xiaomin Wang, Keliang Zhao, & Feng Li Diachronic subsistence strategy changes at the Jinsitai Cave, North China |
| 09:30-09:45 | Fei Peng & Guo Chen Beyond Shuidonggou_onset of the Late Paleolithic in North China |
| 09:45-10:00 | Wencheng Li Technological transition of small-sized flake tool industry in the Chinese Central Plain at ca. 45 ka BP |
| 10:00-10:15 | Sujin Gwon Diversity of raw materials use during the EUP on the Korean Peninsula |
| 10:15-10:45 | Coffee break |
| 10:45-11:00 | Jihyo Park Zooarchaeology intersects with “Zoogeography”: A prospective comparative study of Northeast Asian fauna through the diversity of the MIS3 megafauna on the Korean Peninsula |
| 11:00-11:15 | Hiroyuki Sato New explanation of the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in Japan |
| 11:15-11:30 | Noriyoshi Oda, Kazuki Morisaki, Akira Iwase, Dai Kunikita, & Minoru Yoneda Deciphering the palimpsests and identifying the earliest Upper Paleolithic occupation level in Musashidai site, Central Japan |
| 11:30-11:45 | Yoshitaka Kanomata Modern human behavior at the Odaino Site Group I: Hunting activities and mineral use |
| 11:45-12:00 | Vladimir Kharevich, Alena Kharevich, Ekaterina Bocharova, Anton Anoikin, & Elena Akimova The Early Upper Paleolithic of the Yenisei River Basin (Southern Siberia) |
| 12:00-13:30 | Lunch (Kawauchi Lecture Rooms C [A04]) |
| 13:30-14:30 | Poster Session (Kawauchi Lecture Rooms C [A04]) |
| 14:30-17:30 | Session III : A close look at Upper Palaeolithic variabilities in Asia |
| 14:30-14:45 | Radu Iovita, Abay Namen, Aristeidis Varis, Emily Coco, Tobias Sprafke, Carlos Cordova, Miriam Belmaker, & Zhaken Taimagambetov Settlement and climate fluctuations in the Upper Paleolithic of Kazakhstan: New data from the PALAEOSILKROAD project |
| 14:45-15:00 | Mirosław Masojć, Grzegorz Michalec, Przemysław Bobrowski, Maciej Jordeczka, Byambaa Gunchinsuren, Rafał Sikora, Davakhuu Odsuren, Marcin Szmit, Dashzeveg Bazargur, Jozef Szykulski, & Patryk Muntowski Gobi Desert dwellers in the Upper Pleistocene - Early Holocene: Discontinuity of inhabitation based on new absolute chronology (Mongolia) |
| 15:00-15:15 | Ting Xu, Junyi Ge, & Hanfei Zhang New progress in archaeological excavation of Helong Dadong Site |
| 15:15-15:30 | Kazuki Morisaki & Akira Iwase Demography, climate, and culture change in the Japanese Upper Paleolithic |
| 15:30-15:45 | Kyung Jin Kim & In Sun Seo Techno-functional analysis on the obsidian burins and burin spalls from Paleolithic sites in South Korea |
| 15:45-16:15 | Coffee break |
| 16:15-16:30 | Valeriya Mikihienko, Maxim Kozlikin, & Natalia Belousova Microblades and bladelets technologies in the Upper Paleolithic industries of Denisova Cave, Altai Mountains |
| 16:30-16:45 | Ekaterina Bocharova, Pavel Chistyakov, & Ravil Zhdanov Composite slotted technologies of Eastern Siberia in the Final Upper Paleolithic |
| 16:45-17:00 | Yanhua Song Studies on the construction and function of hearths in Shizitan 29, North China |
| 17:00-17:15 | Aleksei V. Tetenkin Late Upper Paleolithic culture of the population of Baikal-Patom Uplands in the end of Last Glacial Maximum according to the data of Kovrizhka IV site |
| 17:15-17:30 | Yu Cao, Mingjie Yi, & Xiaoling Zhang A quantitative approach for interpreting the morphological and technological variability of microblade technology |
| 17:30-17:45 | Closing remarks |
| 18:30-20:30 | Farewell party |
JUNE 23 (MONDAY)
8:30-18:30 Post-conference excursion
JUNE 24 (TUESDAY)
Departure
2. Registration
We will open the registration desk at TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity (B 02), Katahira Campus, Tohoku University from 15:30 on June 20th. On June 21st and 22nd, you can register at SLA lounge (1st floor) of Building A05, Kawauchi Campus, Tohoku University. Registration fee will cover abstract book, conference materials, morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch (June 21st, 22nd), welcome party, and farewell party. The registration fee should be paid at the registration desk. Please note that we accept only Japanese Yen in cash and reduction of the registration fee for students will be accepted only when you show your student ID.
| Registration fee for regular participants | ¥ 15,000 |
| Registration fee for students | ¥ 10,000 |
3.Post-conference excursion
There is a post-conference excursion on June 23rd. We will visit an Incipient Jomon cave site at Hinata, Yamagata. Specialists will give a brief lecture about the Hinata Caves. We will also visit the Ukitamu Fudoki no Oka Archaeological Museum in Yamagata and look at rich lithic artifacts from early, middle to late Upper Palaeolithic sites there. In addition, we will have a special opportunity to see representative materials for the Japanese Upper Palaeoilithic in Yamagata excavated by Tohoku University and Yamagata Prefectural Center for Archaeological Research. At the end of the excursion, we will visit Sendai City Tomizawa Site Museum (Underground Forest Museum). Forest remains at the Last Glacial Maximum were unearthed associated with an Upper Palaeolithic camp site at the Tomizawa, Sendai. The museum conserves and exhibits the swamp forest preserved by groundwater. The excursion fee should be paid with the registration fee at the registration desk. Please note that we accept only Japanese Yen in cash and reduction of the excursion fee for students will be accepted only when you show your student ID.
| Excursion fee for regular participants | ¥ 10,000 |
| Excursion fee for students | ¥ 5,000 |
*We originally planned to visit the Kakuniyama site, a famous microblade site in Japan. However, unfortunately we cannot visit the site this time because it is prohibited to enter the site area due to the deterioration of a gymnasium next to the site. We are very sorry for that, but instead of the Kakuniyama site, we will visit the Sendai City Museum. We are sure that you can enjoy the worldwide valuable museum.
4. Access to Tohoku University
To Sendai Station
- Please confirm the access from Haneda, Narita, or Sendai Airports to Sendai Station by the following website (https://www.tfc.tohoku.ac.jp/about_us/contact_and_access.html).
- From Haneda Airport, take Keikyu Line or Tokyo Monorail to Shinagawa Station (Keikyu) or Hamamatsucho Station (Tokyo Monorail), and change trains to JR Yamanote Line there for Tokyo Station.
- From Narita Airport, take Narita Sky Access Line or Narita Express to Ueno Station (Narita Sky Access Line) or Tokyo Station (Narita Express).
- From Tokyo Station or Ueno Station, take a bullet train of JR East (Tohoku Shinkansen) to Sendai Station. Please take a Hayabusa, Komachi or Yamabiko Shinkansen (https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/routemaps/tohokushinkansen.html).
- We recommend you take Hayabusa or Komachi because they are faster than Yamabiko. There are only reserved seats for Hayabusa and Komachi. You can purchase a reserved seat at the vending machine or ticket office at Tokyo or Ueno Station (also Shinagawa Station) (https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/ticket/guide.html).
- From Sendai Airport, take Sendai Airport Access Line to Sendai Sation.
To venues
June 20
TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity (B 02), Katahira Campus, Tohoku University Katahira 2-1-1, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577 (Access: https://www.tohoku.ac.jp/en/about/map_directions.html)
By foot:
About 15 minutes from Sendai Station west exit. By subway: Take the subway (Tozai Line) from Sendai Station to Aoba-dori Ichibancho Station (2 mins). Exit at South 1. About 550m towards the North Entrance of Katahira Campus.
June 21 - 22
Multimedia Hall (Building A05, Room M206), Kawauchi Campus, Tohoku University Kawauchi 41, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8576 (Access: https://www.tohoku.ac.jp/en/about/map_directions.html)
By subway:
Take the subway (Tozai Line) from Sendai Station to Kawauchi Station (6 mins) and exit at South 1 or 2.
Sendai Subway: https://www.kotsu.city.sendai.jp/english/subway/norikata.html
5. Accommodation
There are plenty of hotels in city center of Sendai which are good locations accessing to both the venues by foot or by Sendai Subway; for examples, hotels around subway stations of Sendai, Aoba-dori Ichibancho, and Omachi Nishi-koen. We highly recommend booking a room as soon as possible because recently lots of tourists visit Sendai and most hotels will be fully booked soon.
- Sendai Kokusai Hotel
https://www.japanican.com/hotel/japan/sendai/sendai-kokusai-hotel - Washington Hotel Sendai
https://sendai.washington-hotels.jp - Daiwa Roynet Hotel Sendai-Ichibancho
https://www.daiwaroynet.jp/en/sendai-ichibancho/ - Hotel Keihan Sendai
https://sendai.hotelkeihan.co.jp - Hotel Monte Hermana Sendai
https://www.monte-hermana.jp/en/sendai/ - Almont Hotel Sendai
https://global.hokke.co.jp/almont-sendai/en/ - APA Hotel Sendai Eki Itsutsubashi
https://www3.apahotel.com/hotel/hokkaido-tohoku/miyagi/sendaieki-itsutsubashi/
6. Correspondence
Please contact us (apajapan2025@gmail.com) if you have any questions.