快猫短视频

A JAPANESE archaeologist has confessed to faking several important
palaeolithic finds. This means that the country鈥檚 earliest Stone Age tools were
made by people who lived a mere 40,000 years ago rather than 60,000 years ago,
as the history books now say.

The man who perpetrated the fraud was Shinichi Fujimura, deputy director of
the Tohoku Palaeolithic Institute. He was said to have 鈥渄ivine hands鈥� because of
his unerring ability to find stone artefacts.

Fujimara led excavations at some of Japan鈥檚 key palaeolithic sites. Last
month, he announced the discovery of stone tools at the Kamitakamori dig, north
of Tokyo鈥攚hich points to human habitation some 600,000 years ago. But on 4
November, the Mainichi newspaper revealed a videotape showing him
arriving early at the dig and planting several pieces of stoneware in the
ground.

Fujimura owned up to planting 61 of the 65 items he found at Kamitakamori and
29 at a site in Shintotsukawa. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 all. I swear that my discoveries at
Ogasaka and others were genuine,鈥� he told a press conference, referring to a
site in Chichibu, north of Tokyo, where 500,000-year-old post holes marking what
might be the world鈥檚 oldest building were found in February
(快猫短视频, 4 March, p 4).

But archaeologists cannot be certain if Fujimura is telling the truth. Around
150 sites where he worked are now being re-examined. We may never know how much
of Japan鈥檚 archaeological history has been corrupted because the age of
palaeolithic artefacts is usually determined by the strata in which they are
found.

Many scientists are furious at the news. 鈥淢y 20 years of research are
ruined,鈥� says Hiroshi Kajiwara, a professor at Tohoku Fukushi University and a
colleague of Fujimura. 鈥淲hy on earth did he do such a stupid thing?鈥�