Biogeography and adaptation in the Kuril Islands, Northeast Asia.

The Circumpolar North is generally recognized as a challenging environment to inhabit and yet, we know relatively little about how people managed their welfare in these places. Here, we add to the understanding of maritime hunter-gatherers in the subarctic North Pacific through a comparative approach that synthesizes biogeographic and archaeological data from the Kuril Islands. We conclude that our faunal, ceramic and lithic evidence support expectations from biogeography as assemblages from low biodiversity and insular regions show limited diet breadth, more locally produced pottery and a conservation of lithic resources. However, we highlight that these ecological factors did not strictly determine the occupation history of the archipelago as radiocarbon data suggests all regions experienced similar demographic fluctuations regard-less of their biogeography. These results imply additional pressures influenced the strategic use and settlement of the Kuril Islands and the need for increased chronological resolution to disentangle these complex historical factors

Recent Results from LHD Experiment with Emphasis on Relation to Theory from Experimentalist’s View

he Large Helical Device (LHD) has been extending an operational regime of net-current free plasmas towardsthe fusion relevant condition with taking advantage of a net current-free heliotron concept and employing a superconducting coil system. Heating capability has exceeded 10 MW and the central ion and electron temperatureshave reached 7 and 10 keV, respectively. The maximum value of β and pulse length have been extended to 3.2% and 150 s, respectively. Many encouraging physical findings have been obtained. Topics from recent experiments, which should be emphasized from the aspect of theoretical approaches, are reviewed. Those are (1) Prominent features in the inward shifted configuration, i.e., mitigation of an ideal interchange mode in the configuration with magnetic hill, and confinement improvement due to suppression of both anomalous and neoclassical transport, (2) Demonstration ofbifurcation of radial electric field and associated formation of an internal transport barrier, and (3) Dynamics of magnetic islands and clarification of the role of separatrix

Radiocarbon Dating of Potteryfrom Karaga Bay Coast, Northern Kamchatka, Russia

This study aims to determine the age of prehistoric pottery from Karaga Bay coast, northern Kamchatka, Russia. From a typological viewpoint, pottery in this region is divided into four types:Ivashka type, Kavran type, pottery with clay rope ornamentation, and pottery covered by a square/rectangular-shaped impression. The ceramic set is classified into two patterns:a composition solely consisting of Kavran type (“composition-I”) and a composition consisting of various types as well as Kavran type (“composition-II”). According to AMS (acceleratormass spectrometry) radiocarbon dating,thetypological features ofKavran typewere largelyunaltered from the11th to the17th centuryCE. However,ceramiccomposition can bean effectiveindicatorofage;“composition-I”isdated to theolderstagebetween the11th and the13th centuryCE, and “composition-II”can be assigned to the newer stage during the second halfof the15th to thefirst halfofthe17th centuryCE. This chronological schemesuggests that cultural interaction in the newer stage between Karaga Baycoast and adjacent areas is more active than in the older stage

Use Angle and Motional Direction of End Scrapers: A Case Study of the Palaeolithic in Hokkaido, Japan

This article examines the direction of tool movement of end scrapers used by Palaeolithic peoples for hide-working in the Japanese Islands. Specimens are approximately 400 end scrapers from three sites dated to the first half of the late Palaeolithic in Hokkaido, northern Japan. As a result of examination using a method combining the high-power approach of lithic use-wear analysis with a replication technique for measuring the edge angle and the use angle, it was clarified that end scrapers were used only for hideworking. They were classified into four groups: (1) relatively short end scrapers used in a pulling motion (group A); (2) relatively short end scrapers used in a pushing motion (group B); (3) relatively long and large end scrapers used in a pulling motion (group C); and (4) relatively long and large end scrapers used in a pushing motion (group D). Groups B and D (i.e., for pushing motion) are dominant among whole specimens. This study will contribute significantly to the investigation of tool use strategies, curation systems, and the reduction sequences of end scrapers when compared with results of techno-morphological research. At the same time, the methodology performed for this article enabled to change of needs for hide products in prehistoric society

Use-wear analysis of stone tools from the coast of Karaga Bay, Northeastern Kamchatka, Russia

This study examined the functions of chipped and ground stone tools from the coast of Karaga Bay in Northeastern Kamchatka, Russia. The specimens analyzed include 27 stone tools restored after the excavations at the Karaga 6 (11th to 13th centuries) as well as the Karaga 10 and 13 (15th to 17th centuries) sites in 2012. The high-power approach of the lithic use-wear analysis was applied. Because of microscopic observations, six specimens displayed distinct use-wear polish. Polish morphology indicated that two utilized flakes and a retouched flake were used for hide working, while a side scraper exhibited a use-wear polish that was mainly generated by plant working. Two end scrapers also showed traces of plant working,whereas evidence of dry hide tanning was found on one specimen. The findings show that utilized or retouched flakes, not end scrapers, were the main tools for hide working from the 11th to 17th centuries C.E. in Northeastern Kamchatka. This result is extremely suggestive for the explanation concerning the diffusion process of the Paleo-Asiatic type scrapers that have been used by the indigenous peoples in Kamchatka. Finally, ethnographic implications regarding the long-term history of stone scrapers are discussed

Pit dwellings of the Nalychevo Culture in Southern Kamchatka and the Northern Kuril Islands

The purpose of this study is to reveal the regional characteristics of pit dwellings of the Nalychevo Culture that are distributed in Southern Kamchatka and the Northern Kuril Islands between the 15th and the 19th centuries. Materials examined in this study are semi-subterranean residences excavated at the Nalychevo 9 and the Listvennichnaya II sites in Southern Kamchatka as well as instances from the Northern Kuril Islands. As a result of analysis, we found that there are differences in building technique, a method for making a hearth (or a furnace), and the post arrangement between Southern Kamchatka and the Northern Kurils, while other elements are common in these regions. This indicates that archaeological sites in Southern Kamchatka were not necessarily remained by a seasonal occupation of hunter-fishers from the Northern Kurils, but two different human groups settled in Southern Kamchatka and the Northern Kurils respectively. Finally, we compare characteristics of pit dwellings in the regions to those in Sakhalin. Although the origin of these pit dwellings could not be clarified, we highlight that Sakhalin is still one of the strong candidates for the homeland of pit dwellings in Southern Kamchatka and the Northern Kurils

Endscrapers of the Old Koryak Culture: A Case Study in the Kamchatka and Taigonos Peninsulas

This study purposes to clarify the functions and uses of stone endscrapers of the Old Koryak Culture(ca. the 5th to 17th centuries C.E.) from the northern Kamchatka and Taigonos peninsulas. Through an examination of the “high-power approach (HPA)”of lithic use-wear analysis, it has been found that all of the endscrapers with heavily abraded edges had been used for hide-working,and that there were also traces of hafting,probably into handles made of bone or antler. Furthermore, an interpretative model for estimating the direction of tool movement indicates that scrapers with relatively sharp edge-angle were used in a whittling motion, while scrapers with blunt edge-angle were used in a scraping motion. This study also revealed that working edges of almost half of the endscrapers we examined were worn rounded to an extent that measurement of use-angles was difficult,implying that many of these tools were used for a variety of tasks in the hide-working process, tilted at varying angles against the hides. These results show that although the Paleo-asiatic-type of scraper may have existed in this region prior to the 17th century, it constituted only a part of the hide-working toolkit. The assemblage of hideworking tools in the Old Koryak Culture was relatively varied and multipurpose. It is believed that at some point between the period of the Old Koryak Culture and the beginning of the period of ethnographic documentation of the region,a transition occurred whereby the toolkit was pared down to a single tool―the Paleo-asiatic scraper

Long-term marine resource use in Hokkaido, Northern Japan : new insights into sea mammal hunting and fishing

Based on examinations of archaeofaunal remains from 153 components from 122 sites in Hokkaido, Northern Japan, this study highlights that northern fur seals were the most important game for sea mammal hunting from the early Early Jomon (7000 calBP) and proposes a hypothesis that offshore hunting technology for hunting adult fur seals was established prior to the late Early Jomon (5800 calBP). This study also reveals that the importance of fishing for subsistence rapidly increased during the very end of the Final Jomon (2600 calBP) and the Early Epi-Jomon (2400 calBP-1800 calBP). Fishing focusing on bastard halibut and swordfish was actively conducted for status-building by Early Epi-Jomon fishers in some areas. Mortuary analyses indicate that ritual leaders were not necessarily capable fishers and/or hunters in the Jomon communities. However, during the Early Epi-Jomon, only successful fishers and/or hunters had the power to control rituals and the long-distance trade

Chronology and Age Determination of Pottery from the Southern Kamchatka and Northern Kuril Islands,Russi

This study aims to establish a chronological system of pottery with inner lugs,known as Naiji pottery,which is found in the southern Kamchatka Peninsula and the Northern Kuril Islands. Through examination of the typology,Naiji pottery can be divided into four subtypes: types Ia,Ib,II and III. Radiocarbon dating using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry(AMS) demonstrates that type Ia should be dated from the second half of the 15 th century to the first half of the 17 th century,and that date of type II falls after the second half of the 17 th century. Although there is still no radiocarbon date for it,type Ib likely can be assigned to the 17 th century because it is an intermediate type between types Ia and II. Type III is the last phase of this pottery that is influenced by the Russian iron pan,suggesting that its date belongs to a period during the latter half of the 18 th century to the beginning of the 19 th century. The occurrence and distribution of this pottery indicate that the mid-15 th century and mid-17 th century are significant epochs of human activity in this region