Hirofumi Kato
I am an archaeologist trained in the Doctoral Programme of the Graduate School of History and Anthropology at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. I have throughout held positions at the University of Tsukuba and Shimane Prefectural University. My main research interests are the prehistoric archaeology of Northern Eurasia and Indigenous archaeology.
%20kato.jpg)
Since 2011, I have conducted archaeological excavations of medieval maritime hunter-gatherer settlement on Rebun Island, which has a location in the northern part of the Japanese archipelago, as an international field school. Island archaeology is well-suited for the research of the human adaptation to the marine environment, as well as the ethnic formation resulting from the long-distance trade and cultural contact and integration of maritime peoples. In the northern Japanese archipelago, medieval climate change, maritime adaptation, and long-distance trade fundamentally influenced the ethnic formation of the Ainu as indigenous peoples.
Since October 2010, I have served as Professor at the centre for Ainu and Indigenous Studies, Hokkaido University, and was its Director from April 2021 to March 2024. Furthermore, since 2021, I have operated the Global Station for Indigenous Studies and Cultural Diversity (GSI) as its Director, providing a research platform for international collaborative research. Professor Neil Price, Director of WIVA, is in addition a member of our GSI.
During my three-month stay as an International Visiting Research Fellow at WIVA, I intend to conduct comparative studies from a global archaeology perspective on the impact of extensive population movements and long-distance trade during the Viking Age on northern indigenous societies. I believe WIVA's human resources and extensive network will provide fresh impetus for examining how global phenomena of the Viking Age influenced the formation of diversity among ethnic groups within Earth's societies. The cultural landscapes of the Viking Age may in addition offer valuable insights into understanding the contemporary cultural landscapes of East Asia.
During my stay in Uppsala, I wish to share information with you all through lectures and workshops concerning population movements, trade networks, and ethnic formation in Northeast Asia during the Viking Age, particularly in the Okhotsk coastal region. I also aim to understand the contact and interaction between the Viking world and indigenous societies in the Nordic region. I hope to further expand my research network during this visit.