Long-Term Perspectives on the Resilience of Food and Socioeconomic Systems in Prehistoric Japan: Examples from the Early and Middle Jomon Periods

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper argues that the examination of rich archaeological data from the Jomon period of prehistoric Japan can contribute to the recent discussion of the resilience of food and socioeconomic systems. Theories of resilience which consider the importance of adaptive cycles and panarchical connections provide an ecological viewpoint from which we can pose the question of why diversification and decentralization, along with several other traits, are crucial for systems’ resilience. Discussions of local and traditional ecological knowledge (LEK and TEK) have revealed the limitations of a "scientific" understanding of the efficiency of food production systems, and calls for an integrative understanding of food production in relation to the whole range of human-environmental interaction, including the role of material culture. In particular, physical and social landscapes are inextricably linked to LEK. TEK, and material culture that contain bundles of practices, meanings, attributes and values. Using examples from northeastern Japan, I argue that understanding continuity and change in landscape use from prehistoric times to the present may be key in developing proposals for alternative food production systems that are both resilient and sustainable.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23761