British archaeologist Simon Kaner will be giving a public lecture entitled ‘Precocious foragers: flame pots and figurines from Jomon Japan’ on Wednesday at 6pm at the premises of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage at 173, St Christopher Street, Valletta.

The lecture is organised by the Archaeological Society Malta. Dr Kaner is director of the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia and head of the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.

He is also a Research Fellow in the Japanese Section, Department of Asia, The British Museum.

Kaner specialises in the prehistory of Japan. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, he has taught and published on many aspects of East Asian and European archaeology.

He has undertaken archaeological research in Japan, the UK and elsewhere and worked for several years in archaeological heritage management in the UK. His recent publications include The Power of Dogu: ceramic figures from ancient Japan (2009), which accompanied a major exhibition at the British Museum.

Other works include Jomon Reflections: Forager Life and Culture in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago, co-authored with Kobayashi Tatsuo. He is also currently completing an edited volume The Archaeology of Medieval Towns: case studies from Japan and Europe.