Archeologist in Japan Admits He Planted Tools

A leading Japanese archeologist admitted Sunday that he lied about finding stone tools at an archeological site believed to be among the world’s oldest human habitations.

At an emotional news conference, Shinichi Fujimura confessed to staging the discovery. He spoke after a major newspaper ran three photographs on its front page Sunday showing him digging holes at the Japanese site and burying the implements, which were rocks modified by humans for cutting or scraping.

“I did something I shouldn’t have done,” said Fujimura, the vice chairman of the Tohoku Paleolithic Institute. In a traditional sign of humility, he remained in a deep bow throughout the news conference.

Fujimura’s research team announced Oct. 23 that while excavating a site in Miyagi state, about 180 miles northeast of Tokyo, they had uncovered several holes that appeared to have held pillars that supported primitive dwellings.

The holes were said to have been discovered in a layer of earth thought to be about 600,000 years old, which would rank them among the world’s oldest signs of human habitation. The work done at the Miyagi site has drawn international attention to Japanese archeology.

But 61 of 65 stone items supposedly dug up at the site were actually from Fujimura’s own collection of artifacts taken from earlier excavations, institute Chairman Toshiaki Kamata said.

Fujimura volunteered to resign from the institute to take responsibility, said Kamata, who added that he himself had no immediate plans to step down.

The Mainichi newspaper, which took the photographs in secret, said it waited to publish them until confirming with Fujimura that he had buried the items.

“He’s right there in the photos, digging holes and putting stones in them. There’s nothing more you can say,” said Kamata, who is Fujimura’s boss. “With this media coverage, all our work over the years is as good as ruined.”

Kamata added, however, that he would try hard to regain confidence in other findings by the institute that he said were unassailable.

Kamata said Fujimura was a perfectionist who placed excessive pressure on himself in a drive to find ever-older and more plentiful artifacts from Japan’s prehistoric times.