FHRC, Associate Professor
James Frances Loftus
Prehistoric Archaeology, Computational and Digital Archaeology, Cultural Evolution, Natural Anthropology
Graduated from the College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in 2016. Received an M.A. in Archaeology from the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Global Society, Kyushu University in 2018. Earned a Ph.D. in Archaeology from the same graduate school in 2022 as a JSPS Research Fellow (DC1). From 2022 to 2024, conducted postdoctoral research at the Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University, as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow (PD). Since 2024, has served as an Associate Professor at the Institute for Liberal Arts, Institute of Science Tokyo. Founder and head of the first ‘Archaeological Science Lab’ at the Institute of Science Tokyo.
Focusing on the Japanese archipelago from the prehistoric to early modern periods, his research examines the production and transmission of material culture from the perspective of archaeological science. He applies computational and quantitative methods—such as geometric morphometrics, 3D scanning, and machine learning—to analyze and quantify patterns of technological standardization and cultural diversity.
Focusing on the Japanese archipelago from the prehistoric to early modern periods, his research examines the production and transmission of material culture from the perspective of archaeological science. He applies computational and quantitative methods—such as geometric morphometrics, 3D scanning, and machine learning—to analyze and quantify patterns of technological standardization and cultural diversity.