Kyokubumasei-sekifu were first discovered in 1949 when they were unearthed at the Iwajuku Archeological Site, and this finding sparked a controversy over whether the Paleolithic Period had in fact existed, which in turn resulted in the development of the theory that pottery had not been used in the Neolithic Period and the theory of the Mesolithic Period; there was even a dispute as to whether the abrasion of the stone tools was genuine.
1949年の岩宿遺跡が初出で、このときは旧石器存否論争、無土器新石器説、中石器時代説を引き起こし、石器資料そのものに関しては摩耗論争さえ巻き起こっている。