From 1877 to 1879 the American zoologist Edward Sylvester Morse undertook research in Japan. His discovery of pottery in a shell mound, really a prehistoric refuse heap, on the coast at Ōmori in southwestern Tokyo, served as an important catalyst in directing the attention of young Japanese scholars to the methodical investigation of Japan’s prehistoric sites. Concurrently, Japanese universities began to introduce these studies into their curricula. It was not until the second decade of the 20th century, however, that Japanese archaeologists achieved a consensus on the need for the application of a rigorous and disciplined archaeological method. Essential to this process were carefully recorded stratigraphic excavations.