Novi AMS datumi iz sub-neolitskih najdišč na območju južnega dela reke Bug (Ukrajina) in težave s kronologijo kulture Bug-Dnester

Ideas about the origin of the Buh-Dnister Culture under the influence of the Danube Early Neolithic were questioned by series of radiocarbon dates falling into the second half of the 7th millennium BC measured on bones at the Kyiv laboratory in 1998–2004. To start addressing this problem, 11 AMS dates on organic inclusions in the ceramic paste and charred residues on the surface of vessels were obtained at the Tokyo University laboratory. Apart from two heavily overestimated values, measured on samples with very low carbon content, they fall into the range of the 60th–46th century BC that correspond better to the primary views of this chronology. However, the issues of the time and direction of spreading of the first pottery in the region need further research.Zaradi vrste radiokarbonskih datumov, ki sodijo v čas druge polovice 7. tisočletja pr. n. št. in so jih izmerili na kosteh v Kijevskem laboratoriju med leti 1998 do 2004, smo podvomili v zamisli o izvoru kulture Bug – Dnester pod vplivom Donavskega zgodnjega neolitika. Da bi lahko razrešili to vprašanje, smo v univerzitetnem laboratoriju v Tokiju pridobili 11 AMS datumov iz organskih vključkov v lončarskih masah in zoglenelih organskih ostankov na površinah posod. Razen dveh izredno precenjenih vrednosti, ki smo jih izmerili na vzorcih z nizko vsebnostjo ogljika, padejo datumi v razpon od 60. do 46. stoletja pr. n. št., kar je bolj v skladu s prvotnimi stališči o tej kronologiji. Ne glede na te rezultate pa bo potrebno čas in smer širitve prve lončenine v tej regiji še dodatno preučiti

An Analysis of Carbonized Rice Grains Excavated from the Iwasaki Site in Fukuoka Pref.

東京大学考古学研究室は、福岡県八女市岩崎から出土した炭化米を所蔵している。この炭化米は、大正12 年に中山平次郎が採集して本研究室に寄贈したものである。本稿ではこの炭化米の植物形態学的研究と放射性炭素年代測定、炭素・窒素同位体比分析をおこなった。その結果、これらはほとんどが短粒の小型米という弥生後期以前の形態である可能性が示唆され、年代測定の結果と整合性を示し、中山の見通しの正しさが検証された。また、水稲である可能性が示唆された。The archaeology laboratory of the University of Tokyo possesses carbonized rice grains excavated from Iwasaki, Yame-shi, Fukuoka pref. This carbonized rice was collected by Heijirou Nakayama in 1923 and subsequently donated to the laboratory. In the following paper, a plant-ecological examination of these materials, together with a carbon-14 dating will be conducted in addition to a comparative analysis of carbon and nitrogen isotopes. The results of this paper indicate the possibility that almost all of the carbonized rice grains belong to a type of small, short-grain rice dating from before the late Yayoi period. The consistency of these findings in relation to the results of the carbon-14 dating is used to examine the validity of Nakayama\u27s predictions. Moreover, the possibility that these carbonized rice grains may have been a variation of wet rice is also suggested

The spread of rice to Japan: insights from Bayesian analysis of direct radiocarbon dates and population dynamics in East Asia

The shift from foraging to agriculture as an economic way of life can be influenced by multiple ecological and cultural factors. The introduction of rice cultivation in Japan appears to have facilitated a dietary and cultural transition from the Jomon to the Yayoi cultural repertoire (10th/4th century BCE). Here we examine how rice spread across the Yayoi cultural arena (Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu regions) using Bayesian modelling applied to a set of radiocarbon (14C) dates obtained from carbonized rice grains. The combined results of radiocarbon analysis and archaeological data suggest that rice could have appeared in the Central Highlands already in the 11th century BCE when the region was occupied by people of the Final Jomon culture group and was mainly used for ritual purposes. It then appeared in western Japan (northern Kyushu) in the 9th century BCE and continued to disperse discontinuously across eastern Japan. This dispersal pattern likely results from the fusion of Jomon hunter–fisher–gatherer groups in eastern Japan with cultural traits introduced from the Eurasian mainland. The main driving factors for the immigration of early rice farmers into Japan (starting around 1000 BCE) appears to have been sociopolitical. Transformations in China led to the dissemination of rice farmers into the Korean Peninsula about 500 years earlier. The main drivers likely comprised: (i) the eastward expansion of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1400 BCE); (ii) the eastward expansion of the Zhou kingdom, accompanied by the establishment of satellite states, such as Lu (Shandong Province) and Yan (Beijing), following the defeat of the Shang in 1045 BCE; and (iii) the strengthening of local states during the early 8th century BCE after the weakening of the Zhou, due to conflicts with agropastoralists from the Asian steppes. In addition, it is likely that the gradual middle–late Holocene decrease in summer monsoon precipitation negatively affected agricultural yields in the regions located closer to the summer monsoon boundary, such as the middle Yellow River, and thus further fostered the observed population dynamics including the spread of rice farmers to the Korean Peninsula and Japan

The impact of environmental change on the use of early pottery by East Asian hunter-gatherers

The invention of pottery was a fundamental technological advancement with far-reaching economic and cultural consequences. Pottery containers first emerged in East Asia during the Late Pleistocene in a wide range of environmental settings, but became particularly prominent and much more widely dispersed after climatic warming at the start of the Holocene. Some archaeologists argue that this increasing usage was driven by environmental factors, as warmer climates would have generated a wider range of terrestrial plant and animal resources that required processing in pottery. However, this hypothesis has never been directly tested. Here, in one of the largest studies of its kind, we conducted organic residue analysis of >800 pottery vessels selected from 46 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites located across the Japanese archipelago to identify their contents. Our results demonstrate that pottery had a strong association with the processing of aquatic resources, irrespective of the ecological setting. Contrary to expectations, this association remained stable even after the onset of Holocene warming, including in more southerly areas, where expanding forests provided new opportunities for hunting and gathering. Nevertheless, the results indicate that a broader array of aquatic resources was processed in pottery after the start of the Holocene. We suggest this marks a significant change in the role of pottery of hunter-gatherers, corresponding to an increased volume of production, greater variation in forms and sizes, the rise of intensified fishing, the onset of shellfish exploitation, and reduced residential mobility

Chronological research of environmental change and human activity in the late Jomon periods in eastern Japan

University of Tokyo (東京大学