History of Research into the Jomon-Yayoi Transition

Summary

　　　　This paper reviews the history of research and archaeological investigations into the transition from the Jomon to Yayoi Periods. This transition signifies a transition from a hunting-gathering economy to food-producing economy. Traditionally, Japanese archaeology has been characterized by building up relative chronologies of various regions based on pottery. From the 1930’s to 1970’s, the Yayoi Period was defined as a time period when the Yayoi pottery was used. However, rice paddies were discovered in stratum where Jomon pottery was discovered, which necessitated a re-consideration of this traditional definition. As a result, the Yayoi Period came to be re-defined as a time period when wet rice cultivation was practiced. In recent years, AMS dating has been applied to the date of the beginning of the Yayoi Period, and replica methods are applied to pressured imprint of seeds on pottery surface in order to identify crops raised at that time. These all contribute to our understanding previously-unknowns aspects of the Yayoi society.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Tribes, Chiefdoms and early states in late prehistoric Japan

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