ARCHAEOBOTANICAL INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE
MIDDLE JOMON AND EZO-HAJI AT MINAMI-SHIMAMATSU, HOKKAIDO, JAPAN
Dawn Rebecca Kaufmann
December 2004
Saint Louis, Missouri
Ms. on file, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, Department of Anthropology
Dawn Rebecca Kaufmann
December 2004
Saint Louis, Missouri
Ms. on file, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, Department of Anthropology
Archaeological evidence indicates that in the period between 7000 and 3000 B.P. Japan supported some of the largest population densities in the world. In the last decade archaeological researchers have begun to investigate the subtleties and complexities of subsistence categories as a spectrum of plant and animal-people interactions. Paleoethnobotanical studies are among the most easily undertaken and direct methods of investigating subsistence patterns and practices from prehistoric and proto-historic contexts, thereby providing the evidence with which to evaluate subsistence models.
Archaeobotanical samples from the Minami-Shimamatsu site, in Hokkaido, Japan provide evidence for subsistence practices during two components: Middle Jomon (5600 to 4500 B.P.) and Ezo-Haji (circa 1300 B.P.). This archaeobotanical study includes macrobotanical remains from 16 samples: 1) taken from the single Ezo-Haji component structure, House 6, and 2) from a single Middle Jomon structure, House 1.This analysis of the Middle Jomon botanical samples confirms the patterns observed at other sites that indicate the importance of anthropogenic species, most significantly chenopod (Chenopodium sp.), while nut remains were rare. The possible presence of seaweed is suggested for both time periods. In the Ezo-Haji period, samples a significant number of both domesticated broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum ssp. miliaceum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica ssp. italica) dominated the assemblage. This finding provides strong evidence for a notable degree of cultural investment in agriculture by the Pre-Ainu culture that has long been viewed as non-food producing. This paleoethnobotanical work confirms regional patterns demonstrating variability in plant-people interactions in Japan, including the creation of anthropogenic environments, domestication of native species, and the adoption of non-native domesticated plants, and suggests further directions of inquiry.
Japanese
Language Abstract
Translated by Mayu Fujikawa, Washington University in St. Louis
北海道の南島松における中期縄文および蝦夷土師期の原始植物学の調査
考
古学上の証拠によると、紀
元前 7000〜
紀元前
3000年
の間、日本は世界のなかで最も人口密度が高い地域のひとつであった。縄文時代およびそれ以降の人々の生活様式については、漁獲を中心にするモデル、狩猟お
よび採取をするモデル、そして農耕を主とするモデルなど、各種の形態が描かれた。いろいろなモデルが、これまで幅広く議論されてきた。しかしながら、考古
学者が、狩猟・採取・漁獲および食物生産の微妙さと複雑さについて、動植物と人間との関わり合いとして研究を始めたのは、わずかここ 10年
のことである。原始民族植
物学の研究は、先史時代から原始時代までの生活様式や慣習を調査するうえで最も容易で直接的な方法のひとつであり、生活様式のモデルを評価するうえでの証
拠を提供する。
