Jomon Research Articles

Early Jomon fishing activities reconstructed from the fish assemblages of the I-trench expansion of the northern valley area at the Sannai Maruyama site, Aomori Prefecture, Japan

Early Jomon fishing activities reconstructed from the fish assemblages of the I-trench expansion of the northern valley area at the Sannai Maruyama site, Aomori Prefecture, Japan

Discovery of the Jomon era maize weevils in Hokkaido, Japan and its mean

Recent research on plant and insect impressions on Jomon-period pottery strongly suggests not only the presence of household pests such as the maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais), but also the existence of storage facilities for acorns and nuts inside pit houses. The presence of insect pests provides indirect evidence for human-mediated crop propagation on a large scale. The evidence also suggests the possibility of introduction of maize weevils into north-eastern Japan by the Jomon people via the transportation of infested foodstuffs. However, this ‘diffusion by man’ hypothesis has remained unproven because it is possible that these insect pests and their preferred foods originated locally. Aiming to resolve this issue, we examined pottery vessels discovered at a Jomon site in Hokkaido that contain the remains of adult maize weevils. The geographical and temporal distribution of these vessels suggests a possibility of the human-mediated diffusion of maize weevils and chestnut cultivation across oceanic barriers by the Jomon people. Ultimately, we could not prove this hypothesis because of lack of entomological evidence, but we could prove that colonization of the cultivated plants had played a role in the spread of stored food pests. A lot of discoveries of the maize weevil by further impression survey will be expected as a clue to trace the relationship history between people, cultivated plant and pest insects.

A multi-proxy palaeolimnological record of the last 16,600 years from coastal Lake Kushu in northern Japan

Based on diatom, aquatic pollen and non-pollen palynomorph (NPP), lake sediment microfacies, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses we define three main phases of lake basin development including a marshy phase (ca. 16,600–9400 cal. yr BP), lagoon phase (ca. 9400–5900 cal. yr BP) and freshwater lake phase (since ca. 5900 cal. yr BP). Marine influence on the lake system linked to global sea-level rise and the Holocene marine transgression reached a maximum between ca. 8000 and 6000 cal. yr BP. An increase of Aulacoseira subarctica at 5530 cal. yr BP marks the end of the Holocene Thermal Optimum (i.e. onset of Middle Holocene cooling) in the study region. Our results further suggest that freshwater Lake Kushu had a significant effect on the initial habitation of Rebun Island by sedentary hunter-gatherer populations. The reconstructed onset of stable freshwater conditions (ca. 5100 cal. yr BP) coincided with the appearance of the earliest permanent settlements during the Middle Jomon culture phase (ca. 5000–4000 cal. yr BP). On the other hand, there is evidence for human-induced changes in the limnological conditions. This includes enhanced sediment and nutrient input into Lake Kushu resulting in high eutrophication levels that caused strongly reduced diatom productivity and enhanced green algae growth, which can be attributed to human activities apparently associated with the Okhotsk (ca. 1450–950 cal. yr BP) and Classic Ainu (ca. 350–100 cal. yr BP) culture periods.

Material selection and weaving techniques for the oldest basketry in Japan found at the Higashimyou site, Saga Prefecture

Compared with North America or northern Africa, prehistoric basketry has rarely been studied in East Asia. Even in Japan where plant remains excavated from lowland sites have been studied extensively in the past thirty years, the study of basketry lagged behind that of other wooden artifacts, and materials of less than 1000 baskets of the Jomon period have been identified versus more than 21,300 wooden artifacts and 32,500 natural woods of the same period so far identified. The Higashimyou site in Saga prefecture of western Japan yielded over 700 baskets including basket fragments of the initial Jomon period from 8000 to 7300 cal BP and provided a good material to examine the material selection and basketry technique of the incipient basketry manufacture in Japan. The identification of basket materials revealed that large baskets were made mostly with splints of two arboreal species, Sapindus mukorossi and Ficus erecta, and that small ones were made mostly with stems of two vine species, Sinomenium acutum and Trachelospermum. The basketry techniques used at this site showed that the bodies of the baskets were made by various types of twill, weave, and twining, and that the bodies of large ones were usually made of two kinds of technique across belts in the middle of the bodies. The employment of various basketry techniques at this site showed that most of the basketry techniques used in later Jomon and following periods were already established in the initial Jomon period. Occurrences of remains of the material plants around the site, the archaeological record of these plants in Japan, and floristic studies of present Japan indicated that appropriate materials used for the baskets were not easily available around the site and that some kind of resources management for basketry materials must have existed around the settlement.

Stable isotope analysis of human bone hydroxyapatite and collagen for the reconstruction of dietary patterns of hunter‐gatherers from Jomon populations

AbstractStable isotope analysis on human skeletal remains is a powerful tool to reconstruct prehistoric human diet. A previous study used carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bone collagen to reveal that the incorporation of marine resources was significant in the diet of people in the Jomon period. It was found that carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in bone collagen reflect those of protein sources in the diet during adulthood, whereas the incorporation of terrestrial plants could not be evaluated. In this study, we assessed the consumption of terrestrial plants during adulthood by analysing the carbon isotope ratios in bone hydroxyapatite, which reflect the respective values in the whole diet (carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins). We studied 55 human skeletal remains from the Yoshigo and Inariyama shell mounds of the Tokai region in Japan. The carbon isotope ratios in bone hydroxyapatite from these samples were analysed to evaluate the dietary dependence on marine and terrestrial resources. We discovered that the carbon isotope ratios in the bone hydroxyapatite were as low as those in terrestrial mammals, thereby indicating that C3 plants and terrestrial mammals were the main sources of dietary energy for the Jomon people. This result suggests that the dietary incorporation of terrestrial resources was recorded in the bone hydroxyapatite. Finally, the difference between the carbon isotope ratios of the bone hydroxyapatite and collagen was correlated to the nitrogen isotope ratios of the bone collagen, thereby suggesting the large dietary variation among individuals. This study highlighted the utility of carbon isotope analysis of bone hydroxyapatite and bone collagen from human skeletal remains in the investigation of the prehistoric diet of Jomon populations.

Ecological and cultural shifts of hunter-gatherers of the Jomon period paralleled with environmental changes.

Holocene hunter-gatherers adapted to climatic and environmental changes over time. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains from the Inariyama shell mound of the Final Jomon period have revealed large dietary variations in the population. This study analyzed radiocarbon dates of these individuals to test temporal changes in diet and its relationship with tooth ablation. Twenty-nine human skeletal remains from Inariyama were included in this study. Extracted bone collagen samples were purified to graphite. Then, radiocarbon dating of these samples was performed using the accelerator mass spectrometer. The radiocarbon ages of Inariyama ranged about, 3,230-2,140 cal BP and showed three peaks of occupation. In the early and late phases, terrestrial resource consumption and incisor extraction were observed, while marine resource consumption and canine extraction were observed in the middle phase. These temporal changes of diet and tooth ablation types occurred in parallel with climatic cooling and environmental change and help reveal how Holocene hunter-gatherers adapted to the changing environments.

Domestication of plants during the Jomon period

Domestication of plants during the Jomon period

Vegetation change and human impacts on Rebun Island (Northwest Pacific) over the last 6000 years

This study presents a high-resolution, chronologically well-constrained pollen record from Lake Kushu (45°25′58″N, 141°02′05″E) and a record of archaeobotanical remains from the nearby Hamanaka 2 archaeological site. The pollen record suggests continuous long-term cooling, which parallels the decline in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. This cooling trend is overlaid by several rather quick transitions towards cooler conditions (ca. 5540/5350, 1550, and 390 cal BP) and one distinct decadal-scale cold event around 4130 cal BP. These shifts, on one hand, correspond with major hemispherical or global-scale climate transitions/events, including the ‘Holocene Climate Transition’, the onset of the ‘Dark Ages Cold Period’ main phase, the ‘Little Ice Age’, and the ‘4.2 kiloyear event’, respectively. On the other hand, the shifts partly coincide with transformations in the Hokkaido prehistoric cultural sequence including the onset of the Middle Jomon (ca. 5000 cal BP), the Middle/Late Jomon transition (ca. 4000 cal BP), the immigration of Okhotsk culture groups (from ca. 1500 cal BP), and the establishment of the Classic Ainu culture (ca. 350 cal BP). AMS radiocarbon dating of charred macrobotanical remains from Hamanaka 2 suggests three discontinuous occupational periods ca. 390–50 BCE, 420–970 CE, and from 1640 CE, which correspond to the northern Hokkaido Epi Jomon (ca. 300–100 BCE), Okhotsk (ca. 500–1000 CE), and Classic Ainu (ca. 1600–1868 CE) cultural phases, respectively. While impact on the island's natural environments (forest clearance) was marginal during the Epi Jomon phase, it became significant during the Okhotsk and the Classic Ainu culture phases.

Japan: The Earliest Evidence of Complex Technology for Creating Durable Coloured Goods

Abstract The invention of lacquer technology is significant in history as the first evidence of the use of an organic substance in creating durable coloured objects. By focusing on the evidence from the Jomon Period, Japan, this article clarifies the nature of complex technology and knowledge required for lacquer production, presents how lacquer technology enhanced our creative ability, and discusses its significance in human history. Lacquer technology was invented in the course of increasing human-plant interaction in the warming climate of the early Holocene. Personal ornaments coated with red lacquer are the most conspicuous throughout the Jomon Period from the beginning of lacquer technology. Strong attention to colour and intensive application on personal ornaments indicate that the creation of symbolic artefacts in social context was at the core of Jomon lacquer technology.

Adaptations of the Early Jomon people in their settlement relocation to climate change around Lake Mikata, Central Japan

The people who lived at the Torihama midden (Torihama settlement) site near Lake Mikata in Central Japan abandoned it after a major landslide ca. 5800 cal. bp, when they relocated their settlement to Taino, north of Shiiyama Hill. Two hundred years later, people abandoned the Taino settlement, and relocated to new settlements at Yuri and Kitadera, south of Shiiyama Hill. This study uses pollen analysis of an MK91 core from Lake Mikata and climate reconstruction through the modern analogue method using Polygon 2.4.4 software to understand the environmental conditions at the times these settlements were abandoned.The sediment from 356 cm to 458 cm, corresponding to 7300 cal. bp to ca. 5100 cal. bp, was analysed. The vegetation was dominated by Cryptomeria japonica (Japanese cedar) throughout the period. When the landslide occurred ca. 5800 cal. bp, precipitation and the risk of landslides were high. Taino, located on a gentle slope, was less vulnerable to landslide than Torihama. In the sediment covering the period after ca. 5600 cal. bp, the percentages of Cryptomeria pollen and the pollen flux of all pollen taxa decrease. Precipitation was lower, and the annual mean temperature at that time dropped to under 10 °C. The cold, dry climate led to the abandonment of the Taino settlement, with its strong winter north winds, and the relocation of the settlement to the warmer south side of Shiiyama Hill.

Diaphyseal cross-sectional geometry of the metatarsal bones in the Jomon population.

This study aimed to investigate differences in the diaphyseal cross-sectional geometry (CSG) of the metatarsal bones (MTs) between two populations with different habitual activities: the Jomon hunter-gatherers and modern Japanese people. We evaluated the first through fifth MTs of 117 skeleton samples: 59 (33 men and 26 women) were obtained from Late and Final Jomon period archeological sites and 58 (31 men and 27 women) were from modern Japanese people. CSG properties were calculated at the mid-shaft of the MTs and the relative values of the polar section modulus (Zp ) of each second-to-fifth MTs to first MTs were calculated. These variables were compared according to population and sex. Many of the CSG properties of MTs, except first MTs, were higher in the Jomon population than in the modern Japanese population for both sexes. Additionally, the relative values of the Zp of the MTs were higher in Jomon men and women than in modern Japanese men and women. Moreover, the Jomon population had sex-based differences in the ratio of the shape of third MTs and fourth MTs and the relative MTs value. Jomon women had elliptical third MTs and fourth MTs, and the relative Zp values of the third-to-fifth MTs to first MTs were higher in Jomon women than in Jomon men. Our result suggests that the habitual activity of the Jomon population placed heavy loads on the forefoot. This finding possibly relates to mediolateral forefoot loading that appears to be related to traversing uneven terrain.

A new approach to prehistoric family systems from the viewpoint of pottery usage: Expanding the potential of archaeological information through contextual analysis

Many studies analysing various artefacts to investigate prehistoric residence and descent rules have focused both on stages of production and final disposal. The stage of usage within artefact life-history has not received much attention. This study develops the methodology for elucidating habitual attitudes to ceramics during their use-life by analysing their depositional contexts in the Jomon period of prehistoric Japan. The ultimate aim is to contribute to the argument about prehistoric family systems. My research materials are the intentionally deposited pottery embedded within house floors from Middle Jomon settlements in the central part of Japan. To understand the context of deposition in detail, precise in-situ contextual information was acquired through collating pottery photographs from all directions taken after post-excavation cleaning with the existing context photographs taken during excavation. The results showed that (i) pottery function was converted from a utilitarian to a ritual constituent during its life-history; (ii) one of the large settlements showed a unique preference in orientation of the deposited pottery, determined by focusing on the originally discoloured part on its surface. These results allowed me to confirm that the preference emerged at the stage of usage prior to functional conversion. Then, based on the fact that several houses within the settlement overlapped each other, and also on the long-standing interpretation of Jomon housing in general that house extension would often follow childbirth, I suggested that (i) coeval houses numbered around five; (ii) the preference in orientation of pottery in daily life was transmitted within a household. I finally proposed the tentative hypotheses that (i) the residents of the settlement with such a unique orientation preference was matrilocal; (ii) inhabitants having the orientation preference in the settlement were relatives of the inhabitants of the house at other settlements who kept the same preference in orientation of the intentionally deposited pottery. This study contributes to the re-evaluation of the existing archaeological remains to elucidate a high-resolution event, as well as to discussions about family systems of the Jomon period in its culmination.

A female human skeleton from the Initial Jomon period found in the Iyai rock shelter in mountainous Kanto, Japan

A female human skeleton from the Initial Jomon period found in the Iyai rock shelter in mountainous Kanto, Japan

Did a cooling event in the middle to late Jomon periods induced change in the use of plant resources in Japan?

In Japan management and use of plant resources around settlements can be detected since the early Jomon period starting at ca. 7300 cal BP. At least two arboreal species, Castanea crenata (chestnut) and Toxicodendron vernicifluum (lacquer tree), show clear records of management by the Jomon people. After the early Jomon period corresponding to the Holocene Climate Optimum, the sea level lowered and the climate cooled, and these changes must have affected geomorphology and vegetation around settlements. However, it is not known if the management and use of plant resources by the Jomon people changed with such changes in environment. From the middle to late Jomon periods corresponding to this phase, pollen records indicated change in dominant plants around settlements from Castanea crenata to Aesculus turbinata (horse chestnut). This change in vegetation was attributed to a cooling event at the beginning of the late Jomon period at ca. 4400 cal BP or to human management. To examine the influence of environmental changes on vegetation and plant use from the early to final Jomon periods, plant records at four previously studied sites in the Kanto plain, central Japan, were compared. The results revealed that plant use centered on Castanea crenata and Toxicodendron vernicifluum did not change through the periods, but became more multi-faceted after the late Jomon period with additions of such plants as Aesculus turbinata and Quercus (Cyclobalanopsis).

Reconstruction of Holocene environmental changes in Southern Kurils (North-Western Pacific) based on palaeolake sediment proxies from Shikotan Island

We investigated a well-dated sediment section of a palaeolake situated in the coastal zone of Shikotan Island (Lesser Kurils) for organic sediment-geochemistry and biotic components (diatoms, chironomids, pollen) in order to provide a reconstruction of the palaeoenvironmental changes and palaeo-events (tsunamis, sea-level fluctuations and landslides) in Holocene. During the ca 8000years of sedimentation the changes in organic sediment-geochemistry and in composition of the diatoms and chironomids as well as the shifts in composition of terrestrial vegetation suggest that the period until ca 5800calyr BP was characterized by a warm and humid climate (corresponds to middle Holocene optimum) with climate cooling thereafter. A warm period reconstructed from ca 900 to at least ca 580calyr BP corresponds to a transition to a Nara-Heian-Kamakura warm stage and can be correlated to a Medieval Warm Period. After 580calyr PB, the lake gradually dried out and climatic signals could not be obtained from the declining lacustrine biological communities, but the increasing role of spruce and disappearance of the oak from the vegetation give evidences of the climate cooling that can be correlated with the LIA. The marine regression stages at the investigated site are identified for ca 6200–5900 (at the end of the middle Holocene transgression), ca 5500–5100 (Middle Jomon regression or Kemigawa regression), and ca 1070–360calyr BP (at the end of Heian transgression). The lithological structure of sediments and the diatom compositions give evidences for the multiple tsunami events of different strengths in the Island. Most remarkable of them can be dated at around ca 7000, 6460, 5750, 4800, 950calyr BP. The new results help to understand the Holocene environmental history of the Southern Kurils as a part of the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian Marginal Sea-Island Arc Systems in the North-Western Pacific region.

Traces of sea mammals on pottery from the Hamanaka 2 archaeological site, Rebun Island, Japan: Implications from sterol analysis, stable isotopes, and radiocarbon dating

To reconstruct prehistoric human diets, we studied pottery excavated from the Hamanaka 2 archaeological site, Rebun Island, Hokkaido, Japan, where marine mammals were cooked (boiled) in pottery vessels to obtain animal oils and fats. We analyzed lipids adhering to the pottery and demonstrated that cholesterol made up more than 80% of the detected sterols, suggesting that they were of animal origin. The stable isotopes of carbonized material adhering to the inner surfaces of potsherds indicated that the charred materials likely refl ected a diet of marine mammals or fi nfi shes. Radiocarbon dates on the same charred materials showed a large marine reservoir effect, which supported the interpretation that they were derived from marine products cooked in the pottery vessels. The apparent radiocarbon age differences between the charred materials on the inner surfaces of the potsherds and charred wood from the same layer that the potsherds came from indicated a correction value for the marine reservoir effect (ΔR) in the northwestern Pacifi c of 444 ± 55 14C years at 3010 BP. The results of these three analyses, namely, sterol analysis, stable isotope analysis, and radiocarbon dating, are consistent with the archaeological hypothesis that during the latter half of the Late Jomon period (1300–1200 cal BC), sea mammals were cooked in pottery vessels to obtain animal oils and fats at the Hamanaka 2 archaeological site. * N ational Museum of Japanese History, 117 Jonai-cho, Sakura, Chiba 285-8502, Japan ** College of Liberal Arts, International Christian University, 10-2 Osawa, 3-chome, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8585, Japan *** Paleo Labo Co. Ltd., AMS Dating Facility, 1900-65, Shimo-tazawa, kurohone-cho, kiryu, Gunma 376-0144, Japan a Corresponding author: e-mail: miyata@nendai.nagoya-u.ac.jp Present address: Center for Chronological Research, Nagoya University, Furou-cho, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan

Basis of Improvement Activities Observed in Jomon Period

Basis of Improvement Activities Observed in Jomon Period

The Megaliths of Korea and Japan: An Analysis of Origins and Functions

This publication focuses on the origins and peculiarities of Neolithic and Bronze Age megaliths in the marginal areas of Eurasia, a topic infrequently addressed in Russian scholarship. The objective of this study is to describe the phenomenon of megalithism in Korea and the adjacent areas of Japan using archaeological evidence and science-based methods. In Korea, the megalithic sites, more than 30 thousand in number, concentrate in the west and south, along the estuaries of major rivers fl owing into the Yellow and East China Seas. Most dolmens in Korea date to the Bronze Age and served as burial structures. In Japan, the megaliths belong to two traditions of different origin. One is local, originating from the Middle Jomon, the other was introduced from Korea. Most specialists attribute dolmens with burials to the Yayoi culture (3d century BC to 3d century AD). They are distributed on Kyushu Island (prefectures of Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Saga) and in the western and central parts of Honshu Island. The analysis of megaliths in both regions suggests that their appearance and spread were only partly related to farming economy. The principal factors were social changes such as the emergence of tribal elites and the redistribution of territories.

下本山岩陰遺跡（長崎県佐世保市）出土の縄文時代前期・弥生時代人骨

下本山岩陰遺跡（長崎県佐世保市）出土の縄文時代前期・弥生時代人骨

生業動態からみた縄文時代人の食料戦略

生業動態からみた縄文時代人の食料戦略