Paper short abstract:

This study describes some findings on the Ainu society of the 17th century through a comparison between the letters written by Girolamo de Angelis, an Italian Jesuit missionary who visited Ezo in 1618, and the results of our archaeological research.

Paper long abstract:

Girolamo de Angelis, an Italian, visited Japan as a Jesuit missionary. In 1618, he stayed in Ezo (currently, Hokkaido), which was located in the northern part of the Japanese Islands, for ten days and wrote about what he saw and heard during his stay to the Society of Jesus. Today, these letters have become valuable records of the history of Japan and customs of Ainu, who lived in Ezo at the time of Angelis's visit.This study examines the part in Angelis's letters describing the cultural customs of Ainu. Subsequently, it discusses what was found about the Ainu society of the 17th century through a comparison between the letters and the results of our archaeological research of the remains of this society.We analyzed the graves of Ainu in Usu district, Date City, whose periods can be identified by the ashes of two volcanic explosions, one each in 1640 and 1663. The items analyzed were burial methods by period, the relations between the burial methods and genders/ages of the dead persons, and the types/amounts of grave goods.The results showed that the Ainu followed two burial methods in the 17th century: one was to put a dead body in a wooden coffin and the other to wrap the dead body with a mat made from a plant (kina in Ainu, or goza in Japanese). While Angelis wrote that the difference in the burial methods was determined by the difference between the rich and poor, our research results showed no difference in grave structure or the amount of grave goods between the two burial methods.These facts indicate that the Ainu society at the time was not a distinctive class society and featured only mild differences between the rich and poor. The research results also indicate that the Ainu wanted to provide within the graves things that would be needed by a dead person in the world of the dead.