Salmon Exploitation in Jomon Archaeology from a Wetlands Point of View

Abstract

The economic significance of salmon for a diversity of cultures worldwide, and throughout history, is well documented. This was no less true during the prehistory and history of the Japanese Islands. However, the problem of poor preservation and visibility of salmon bones required to clearly demonstrate that significance is a persistent one. This paper briefly reviews the history of salmon exploitation in the oldest cultural period in Japan following the Paleolithic era, the Jomon, and in later historical periods. Such a review must include reference to the now classic “salmon/trout theory” developed almost 60 years ago by the renowned archaeologist, Sugao Yamanouchi. However, in order to build systematically upon what has come before us – the hallmark of sound research – this discussion focuses on salmon within a taphonomic framework listing the potential biases for recovery and identification that plague Jomon archaeology. Furthermore, the proper excavation of important wetland sites will help to better address the important issues of resource exploitation, ecological adaptation, and settlement and subsistence change that are paramount to understanding the nature of the diverse and lengthy Jomon period. To this end, a four-fold site classification scheme is created from specific archaeological contexts based on preservation factors for salmon remains. This scheme can be used by future researchers to clarify the nature of prehistoric and historic wetlands sites containing or lacking fish or salmon remains. The results of such a classification can: 1) provide one approach to inventorying such sites, and 2) can aid in understanding the validity of interpretations of fish bone assemblages based on preservation quality.