Processing Technologies and Production of Food in the Jomon Period

During the Jomon period, which lasted about 13,000 years, a variety of food processing techniques were developed. First of all, there is pottery itself, which was the most basic tool for processing food in the Jomon. Early pottery is thought to have been used for cooking and processing fish, but the number of pottery sherds excavated in the Incipient Jomon is quite limited. The number of pottery shapes increased later on, suggesting that pottery was used for various purposes and times during the Jomon period. As for food processing facilities, we can point to a series of earthen pits in the Kyushu region which are thought to have been smoking facilities, and shell mounds as food processing sites that were typically developed in eastern Japan. Each technology had its diversity depending on the period and region. Although not food itself, salt production using salt-making pottery began in the Late Jomon period. From the Late Jomon period onward, the number of water reservoirs associated with wooden structures used for processing nuts, such as horse chestnuts and walnuts, increased in eastern Japan. Although acorn and nuts had been used since the Early Jomon period, the use of lowland storage pits in the western part of Japan suggests that the use and processing of acorn and nuts changed after the Late Jomon period. 要旨13,000年ほど継続した縄文時代において、さまざまな食料加工技術が開発された。まずは、土器そのものであり、食料を加工する最も基本的な道具となっている。初期の土器は魚類の調理・加工に用いられたことが明らかにされているが、土器出土数はかなり限定されている。その後、土器器種が増加しており、縄文時代の各時期における土器の用途は多様であったと考えられる。食料加工施設としては、燻製施設と考えられる九州地方の連穴土坑、東日本に顕著に発達した食料加工場としての貝塚などが挙げられる。それぞれの技術は、時期・地域によって多様性を有している。食料そのものではないが、縄文時代後期には製塩土器を用いた製塩も開始されている。縄文時代後期以降は、東日本で堅果類処理用の水場遺構・木組み遺構が増加する。堅果類は縄文時代の早い時期から利用されていたものの、西日本でも低湿地貯蔵穴が利用されるなど、縄文時代後期以降において利用・処理の方法に大幅な変化が生じたと考えられる

Archaeology for Disaster Management

While the importance of interdisciplinary studies has been recognized recently, each research field is becoming more subdivided. Expertise in the research field must be assured yet, on the other hand, joint research with other research areas can effectively expand the depth and reach of research. Based on my own experience, this paper introduces an example of interdisciplinary study combining archaeology, geology, and geotechnology. I show that this interdisciplinary study has a wider social significance than isolated studies in each research area would have had. 要旨近年、学際的な研究の重要性が認識される一方で、各研究分野の細分化がますます進展する傾向も見受けられる。まず、自身の研究分野での専門性を確保する必要がある一方で、他の研究分野との共同研究は、自らの研究の幅を広げるために有効である。本稿では、筆者自身の経験を踏まえ、考古学、地質学、地盤工学を組み合わせた学際的研究の一例を紹介する。このような学際的研究は、それぞれの研究領域でおこなわれる研究による社会的意義に加え、新たな社会的意義を創造することがある

Emerging craft production and local identity: a case of the Late Jomon Period

"After the Late Jōmon period, several changes have been identified, such as a reduction in the number of settlements, new types of settlement, an increase in the number of ritual objects, and emerging local craft production. Of these changes, the appearance of new types of settlement implies a change in the settlement system, which leads to a more sedentary system. This can be connected with the emergence of local crafts and social identity. In the Kantō Plain of the Late Jōmon clay earrings, shell bracelets, stone rods, and salt were produced. In this paper, I focus on salt production in the Late Jōmon, and examine the meaning of emerging craft production in this period.Po obdobju mlajše/pozne kulture Jōmon so bile prepoznane številne spremembe, kot so zmanjšanje števila naselbin, novi tipi naselbin, povečanje števila ritualnih predmetov in uveljavljanje lokalne obrtniške proizvodnje. Med temi spremembami pa pojav novih tipov naselbin kaže na spremembo sistema poselitve, ki vodi v bolj sedentarni sistem poselitve. To lahko povežemo s pojavom lokalnih obrti in družbene identitete. Na ravnini Kantō so v poznem obdobju kulture Jōmon proizvajali glinene uhane, zapestnice iz školjk, kamnite palice in sol. V članku se osredotočam na proizvodnjo soli v poznem obdobju kulture Jōmon in preučujem pomen obrtniške proizvodnje, ki se je uveljavila v tem obdobju

Feasting and inter-village networks

While the exchange of material goods and techniques is thought to be the main reason for the existence of exotic materials at Jomon sites, it is not clear what kind of exchange occurred. I propose that feasting could be one of the reasons for the diffusion of material goods and even techniques. As feasting is connected to activities such as exchange and ritual, feasting remains could be an indicator of exchange. This paper uses exotic materials and feasting remains to analyze the distribution of goods, using ethnographic data related to ritualized exchange and feasting.Čeprav pojav eksotičnih dobrin na Jomonskih najdiščih pogosto razumemo kot posledico menjave, ne vemo za kašne vrste menjavo je šlo. Gostije so lahko eden poglavitnih medijev širitve dobrin in tehnik. Če torej gostije lahko povežemo z rituali in z menjavo, potem so ostanki gostij lahko poglavitni vir za preučevanje menjav. V članku analiziram distribucijo dobrin s pomočjo etnografskih primerov ritualizirane menjave in gostij ter ostankov gostij in eksotičnih predmetov

Burial practices and social complexity: Jomon examples

Many archaeologists investigated the burial practices of the Jomon in order to clarify emerging social complexity, especially in the 1950s. Recently, since the social complexity of the Jomon became an important issue, burial practice has been recognised as an indicator of a hereditary ranking system. As I have noted elsewhere, there is no clear evidence that a hereditary ranking system existed in Jomon society. However, instead of searching for hereditary ranking in the Jomon, burial practices could be analysed from another aspect. The temporal and regional distribution of Jomon burial practices has been clarified. In the Kanto district, communal graves appeared in the early Late Jomon. This type of burial has been discovered only in this area. In the same period, some burial practices also appeared in other areas of Eastern Japan. Although this change from Middle to Late Jomon has been recognised, it has not been investigated from the perspective of social complexity. In this paper, I will try to examine the change in burial practices from the Middle to the Late Jomon in terms of social complexity

Reconsideration of the Use of Salt in the Jōmon Period

Pottery salt production, which appears in the Late Jōmon period, has been studied in terms of its exchange networks and production processes as well as the typology of salt-making pottery. Jōmon salt-making pottery is found on the Pacific coast of eastern Honshū Island. The many sites which contain salt-making pottery sherds are widely distributed through the Kantō Plain, even in inland areas. In most previous studies, the use of salt in the region has been assumed to be related to the preservation of marine products because diverse fishing tools have been uncovered from the southern coast of Lake Kasumigaura, the central area of salt production in the Kantō Plain. However, this scenario cannot explain the wide distribution of salt pottery in the Kantō Plain. As salt production was performed in various places over a wide area, in order to interpret the development of saltmaking in the Jōmon period, it is important to compare Jōmon salt production with other examples of salt production. In this paper, using some ethnographic examples from the New Guinea highlands, I will try to clarify the use of salt, and the reason why salt production developed in the Late Jōmon period. 要旨 縄文時代後期にはじまる土器製塩は、製塩土器形態や編年などとともに、交換や製塩工程について研究が進められてきた。縄文時代の製塩土器は主に東日本の太平洋岸で出土している。関東地方では、縄文時代の汀線付近だけでなく、内陸部にも製塩土器が分布している。先行研究では、土器製塩の中心地である霞ヶ浦沿岸でヤスなどの漁撈具が同時期に発達することから、生産された塩の用途は漁撈にともなう食品保存と関連付けられることが多かった。しかし、この説では内陸部に分布する製塩土器を説明することはできない。縄文時代における製塩の発達を解明するには、世界各地に見られる製塩活動との比較が必要であろう。本稿では、ニューギニア高地における製塩の民族資料との比較を通じて、縄文時代の塩の用途と土器製塩の発達の原因を探る

Burial practices and social complexity: Jomon examples

Many archaeologists investigated the burial practices of the Jomon in order to clarify emerging social complexity, especially in the 1950s. Recently, since the social complexity of the Jomon became an important issue, burial practice has been recognised as an indicator of a hereditary ranking system. As I have noted elsewhere, there is no clear evidence that a hereditary ranking system existed in Jomon society. However, instead of searching for hereditary ranking in the Jomon, burial practices could be analysed from another aspect. The temporal and regional distribution of Jomon burial practices has been clarified. In the Kanto district, communal graves appeared in the early Late Jomon. This type of burial has been discovered only in this area. In the same period, some burial practices also appeared in other areas of Eastern Japan. Although this change from Middle to Late Jomon has been recognised, it has not been investigated from the perspective of social complexity. In this paper, I will try to examine the change in burial practices from the Middle to the Late Jomon in terms of social complexity.Številni arheologi so preiskovali pogrebne običaje v kulturi Jomon z namenom, da bi razjasnili nastajajočo družbeno kompleksnost, še posebej v 50. letih 20. stoletja. V zadnjem času, predvsem odkar je družbena kompleksnost kulture Jomon postala pomembna tema, je pogrebni običaj priznan kot pokazatelj sistema dednega razvrščanja. Vendar ni jasnih dokazov, da je takšen sistem dednega razvrščanja v družbi Jomon sploh obstajal, kot sem opozoril že drugje. Pogrebne običaje bi lahko preiskovali tudi iz drugega vidika, ne samo z iskanjem dednega razvrščanja v kulturi Jomon. Časovna in regionalna porazdelitev pogrebnih običajev kulture Jomon je bila razjasnjena. V okrožju Kanto so se v zgodnji fazi obdobja pozne kulture Jomon pojavili skupni grobovi. Takšno vrsto pokopov so odkrili samo na tem področju. V tem obdobju se nekateri pogrebni običaji pojavljajo tudi na drugih področjih vzhodne Japonske. Kljub temu, da je bila sprememba od srednje do pozne kulture Jomon priznana, še ni bila raziskana iz vidika družbene kompleksnosti. V članku bom poskušal preveriti spremembe pogrebnih običajev od srednje do pozne faze kulture Jomon z vidika družbene kompleksnosti

Mounds and rituals in the Jomon Period

I will examine the possibility that earthen mounds were the result of ritual acts in the Jomon period. In the Kanto district, ring-shaped earthen mounds developed in the Late and the Latest Jomon settlements. While the number of settlements decreased from the Middle Jomon, abundant ritual artefacts have been discovered in settlements and deposits adjacent to the mounds. Burnt soil, charcoal, and burnt bone contained in the mounds could be the remains of feasting. As food processing facilities and vessels increased in the Late Jomon, I assert that the development of feasting led to the formation of the mounds.Proučujemo možnost, da so bile zemljene gomile rezultat ritualnih dejanj v obdobju Jomon. V pokrajini Kanto so se okrogle zemljene gomile pojavile v poznih in zadnjih Jomon naseljih. Medtem ko število naselij v srednjem obdobju Jomon upade, je bilo v naselbinskih depozitih in depozitih, povezanih z gomilami, odkritih veliko artefaktov, povezanih z rituali. Ožgana zemlja, oglje in ožgane kosti v gomilah so lahko ostanki gostij. Domnevamo, da je mogoče veliko število pripomočkov pri pripravi hrane in posod v poznem obdobju Jomon povezati z gostijami, te pa z gradnjo gomil

Proto-historic Background of Martial Arts Schools in Eastern Japan

Kashima city is best known for having the oldest martial arts schools in Japan. While some of its martial arts schools, such as the Kashima Shinryū, were officially established in the latter half of the medieval period, there was already a long tradition of martial arts in Kashima region since the Kofun period (the fourth to the seventh centuries AD). This paper focuses on archaeological remains and the landscape around the Kashima Grand Shrine, to clarify the significance and influence of the Kashima Grand Shrine in managing the eastern part of the territory of ancient Japan. This paper examines some characteristics of the region, such as its coastal location that enabled the transportation of materials and soldiers. Another specific aspect of the place could be the advanced metal production evident in the giant sword of the Kashima Grand Shrine made in the early ancient period. Ancient workshops for metallurgy were found at the former local government office in Hitachi-no-kuni, the area of today’s Ibaraki Prefecture. It thus seems no coincidence that Kashima was chosen as a kind of military base. The archaeological findings that have been made in this location provide many reasons why the lineages of various martial arts schools, including the Kashima Shinryū, derived from this city, which led to the formation of later bushi groups in the medieval period of eastern Japan

Feasting and inter-village networks

While the exchange of material goods and techniques is thought to be the main reason for the existence of exotic materials at Jomon sites, it is not clear what kind of exchange occurred. I propose that feasting could be one of the reasons for the diffusion of material goods and even techniques. As feasting is connected to activities such as exchange and ritual, feasting remains could be an indicator of exchange. This paper uses exotic materials and feasting remains to analyze the distribution of goods, using ethnographic data related to ritualized exchange and feasting