Shell midden archaeology in Japan: Aquatic food acquisition and long-term change in the Jomon culture

Abstract

This paper reviews recent progress of Japanese shell midden archaeology and discusses how the information from shell middens can help answer some of the key questions in anthropological archaeology today. Over the past several decades, shell midden archaeology in Japan has made significant advances both in terms of theory and method. Active interaction with Japanese and Anglo-American archaeology has resulted in the development of new theoretical approaches, including environmental archaeology, zooarchaeology, and hunter-gatherer archaeology. Methodologically, the adoption of the flotation and water-screening methods has enabled archaeologists to collect quantitative data of faunal assemblages, and sometimes of floral assemblages as well. The dense distribution of shell middens in northeastern Japan and its changes through time are closely related to the regional and temporal variability of the prehistoric Jomon culture (ca. 14,000–500 BC). In this article, shell middens from four regions of Japan are examined: 1) Tohoku, 2) Kanto, 3) Chubu, and 4) Western Japan. The final section of this paper discusses the implications of regional and temporal variability observed among these shell middens.