Disgraced archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura, who previously admitted to planting pieces of Paleolithic tools at two sites in northern Japan, has also admitted faking discoveries at at least 30 sites in the Tohoku region and Saitama Prefecture, archaeological association sources said Thursday.
Fujimura told a special investigative committee of the Japanese Archaeological Association that the ancient tool fragments he claimed to have discovered in Miyagi Prefecture -- at the Zazaragi ruins in the town of Iwadeyama and at the Babadan A ruins in Furukawa -- were in fact planted there, the sources said.
Fujimura's reported discoveries at the Zazaragi ruins had Japan's archaeological world declaring that remnants from the earlier Paleolithic era -- dating back more than 30,000 years -- existed in Japan. In addition to the two Miyagi Prefecture sites, the scholar has admitted to falsifying finds at several other locations, bringing the total to at least 30, the sources said. The revelations were made during several interviews conducted between the committee and Fujimura since May, they added.